










^.^^ ^^- 










,^ .* 







^o. 







*"^' <r *V ••"* 'S^^ <^ "' \^ .. '^ •" "f^ 




* /x 




58th Congress. ) SENATH \ Documknt 

1st Session. \ ( No. KJ, 



MEMORIAL OF TIIK DKLAWAKK INDIANS. 

^9 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS RESIDING IN THE 
CHEROKEE NATION PRAYING RELIEF RELATIVE TO THEIR 
RIGHTS IN AND OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN LANDS WITHIN 
THE BOUNDARIES OF SAID NATION. 



November 23, 1903. — Referred to the Cotmnittee on Iiuliaii Affairs and nnlered to Ik' 

printed. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE TKIBE OF INDIANS RESIDING IN THE 
CHEROKEE NATION RELATIVE TO THEIR RKiHTS IX AND OWNKUSHII' OF 
157,600 ACRES OF LAND SITUATED AVITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF SAID 
NATION, PURCHASED BY SAID DELAWARE TRIBE I'URSUANT TO AGREE- 
MENT MADE WITH THE CHEROKEE NATION, DATED APRIL 8, 1807. IN 
ACCORDANCE WITH THE CHEROKEE TREATY OF JLTLY ll>, 18()(3, AND 
THE DELAWARE TREATY OF JULY 4, 180(V, RELATIVE ALSO TO CERTAIN 
LAWS OF CONGRESS IN REFERENCE TO SAID LANDS, THE FAILURE OF 
THE GOVERNMENT UNDER SAID TREATIES AND LAWS TO I'UOTECT THE 
DELAWARES IN THEIR RIGHTS WITH RESPECT THERETO OR TO 
ENFORCE SUCH LAWS AS PASSED, AND ESPECIALLY RELATIVE TO THE 
OPPRESSIVE AND UNJUST ACTION RECENTLY TAKEN BY CERTAIN 
DEPARTMENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT TO AB.SOLUTELY IMPAIR OR 
DEFEAT SUCH RIGHTS AND THE TITLE OF THE DELAWARES TO SICM 
LANDS. 

Your memorialists represent: 

1. The said Delawares are a band of the Ciierokee .Nalion. and 
became and have continued to be such band bv reason of the matters 
hereinafter stated. They are descendants of the Delaware tribe of 
Indians, who removed from the States of Indiana and Ohio in accord- 
ance with the provisions of treaties made with the I'nited Stati's 
October 3, 1818 (7 Stat. L., 188), and Auo-ust H, iSi'H (T Stat. L.. H-Jtl). 

2. Upon such removal the Delawares setth>d upon a reservation 
provided for them in the State of Kansas, as described and set apait 
for their use in said treaty of August 3, 1S2'.». 

3. Subsequently the Delawares removed to the Indian Territory and 
became residents] members, and citizens of the Cherokee Nation by 
virtue of a certain agreement made lietween them. :is a tril»e. and the 



2 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Cherokee Nation, dated April 8, 1807, which wa.s approved b}^ the 
United States and which was made pui'suant to two treaties previously 
entered into, which are recited in said agreement, one made between 
the Cherokee Nation and the United States, dated July IH, 1866 (11: 
Stat. L., 799), and one between the Delaware tribe and the United 
States, dated July 4, 1866 (11 Stat. L., 793). A copy of the said Dela- 
ware-Cherokee agreement is hereto annexed and marked ''Exhibit 1." 

4. Ever since the making- of said agieement the Delaware tribe has 
been and still is a l)and of the Cherokee Nation, has preserved its tribal 
organization, maintained its tribal laws, customs, and usages not incon- 
sistent with the constitution and laws of the Cherokee Nation, and ever 
since the making of said agreement the individual members of the band 
or tribe of Delawares have been citizens of said Cherokee Nation, 
residing therein. 

5. In and by said Delaware-Cherokee agreement (Exhibit 1) two 
things were specificall}" provided for: 

(a) In the latter portion of said agreement the Delawares, by the 
payment to the Cherokee Nation of a specific sum of money from their 
tribal fund, amounting to $121,824.28, secured for themselves and 
their descendants all the rights of Cherokee citizens. These rights 
included not onh^ political rights, but also the right for each Delaware 
or his decendant to share equally with the members of the Cherokee 
Nation in all the common domain of that nation and in all its communal 
funds. 

This was a right which the Shawnees obtained by making a similar 
pa3^ment, but the Shawnees did not secure an3"thing further. Quite 
the contrary was the case of the Delawares. 

(b) By the first portion of said agreement (Exhibit 1) it was provided 
that the Cherokee Nation should, in addition to selling the Delawares 
rights of citizenship, sell to them an aggregate body of land whose 
extent was to be measured by the number of Delawares (985) who 
appeared upon a certain register or roll, multiplied by 160 acres for 
each of said Delawares. These lands could be selected in anj^ portion 
of the Cherokee domain east of the 96° of west longitude, and it was 
provided that the amount should be "in the aggregate equal to 160 
acres for each individual of the Delaware tribe who was enrolled upon 
a certain register made February 18, 1867." 

As there w^ere 985 Delaw^ares, this aggregate body of land amounted 
to 157,600 acres. 

The agreement further provided that — 

In case the Cherokee lands shall hereafter be allotted among the members of said 
nation, it is agreed that the aggregate amount of land herein provided for the Dela- 
M'ares, to include their improvements, according to the legal subdivisions when sur- 
veys are made (that is to say, 160 acres for each individual) shall be guaranteed to 
each Delaware incorporated by these articles into the Cherokee Nation. 

It was further provided that the continued ownership and occupancy 
of the land should not be interfered with. 

The exact phraseology of the whole agreement can be seen b}' an 
examination of Exhibit 1. 

6. The Delawares paid from their tribal funds not onh' said sum of 
$121,824.28, but also paid an additional sum of ^^157,600, at the rate of 
$1 an acre for said additional 157,600 acres of land. 

In 1867, $1 an acre was a very high price for the lands which the 
Delawares secured. Other and better lands in the immediate vicinity 

TA-^-D- .<.,. APR 8 1904 

.■:- : :. : ; D. of 0. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 3 

were sold at about this same time hy the Government, or to the Gov- 
ernment, at prices rang'ino- from i> to To cents an acre. 

7. The Delawares removed from their Kansas Reservation pursuant 
to this agreement and selected, occupied and improved the 1.57.t;o() 
acres, and they and their descendants have occupied, these lands up to 
the present time. They have expended al)out si.ooo.ooo in improve- 
ments on said lands. 

8. That the Delawares thought they were getting a clear and absolute 
title to these lands is evident from the contemporaneous circumstances. 
Although nearly i^oo of the 'JSo Delawares died before actual removal 
to the Indian Territory, yet, nevertheless, the aggregate amount of land 
to which they would liave been entitled, if living, was paid for by the 
funds of the Delaware tribe into the Cherokee Nation. The tribe, as 
a tribe, supposed that they, as a tribe, were buving this aggreg-ate 
amount of land for themselves and their descendants. The tribe, as a 
tribe. })elieved that it succeeded to the title which the Cherokee Nation 
had in these lands, the highest kind of Indian title, namely, a title bv 
occupancy. 

^ 9. Not only was this the fact, but also as much was paid into the 
Cherokee Nation by reason of this list of 985 Delawares, whether any 
individual on that list was an infant in arms or an old man, the Dela- 
wares naturally considering that the 985 members upon said list were 
merely used as a measure of ascertaining the aggregate amount of 
land at 160 acres each. 

10. These remarks are interpolated at this point for the i-eason that 
of late years the Cherokee Nation has taken the position that the onlv 
thing secured by this payment of $157,600 was a life interest in each 
of the 985 registered Delawai-es in 160 acres of land, and that as soon 
as any registered Delaware died his selection of 160 acres fell into the 
common domain of the Cherokee Nation and became subject to allot- 
ment among all Cherokee citizens. The absurditv of this position is 
evident when the fact of the death of registered Delawares is consid- 
ered, as mentioned above, and the further fact that an ecjual amount 
was paid whether a Delaware was old or young. 

11. The Delawares occupied and improved these lands without mol- 
estation by the Cherokee from the time thev entered into possession 
of them in 1867 and 1868, up to about the year 1898, and during all 
this time the Cherokee considered and l)elicved that the Delawares 
had purchased this land and acquired an indefeasible title. 

12. When the right of the Delawares to share in the distribution of 
the tribal or conmuuial funds of the Cherokee Nation was in question, 
which resulted from the leasing or selling of certain lands in the com- 
mon domain in opposition to the rights of the Delawares to share in 
such funds, in a certain action brought in the Court of Claims, entitled 
Journeycake i\ The Cherokee Nation, and in the brief Hied on beiialf 
of the Cherokee Nation, the position was taken unipialitiedlv that the 
Delawares obtained these lands absolutely. (See 28 C. CI. K., 281.) 

13. Furthermore, in a communication made to Hon. Ilenrv L. Dawes, 
chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Atl'airs, dated June 19, 
1890 (in reference to Senate bills 2322, 44(i5, Fifty-tirst Congress, first 
session), the Cherokee Nation, by its delegates, expresslv stated as 
follows: 

As has been seen, the Delawares purcha.sed 157,600 acres of Cherokee lands lying 
east of the ninety-sixth degree. That \vai< an absohito and nnconditional purcliase, 
and in which lands the Cherokee Nation has no title or interest. 



4 MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

14. After a decision of said case of Journeycake v. The United States, 
which went on appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States (155 
U. S-, 196), a different position was taken, or attempted to be taken, 
hj the Cherokee Nation in regard to these lands, namely, that the 
original registered Delawares merely had life interests in 160 acres 
each, and that the Delawares as a tribe did not get an absolute title to 
the 157,600 acres. 

15. In view of this new contention and the confusion which was 
caused by it when the question of allotment of Cherokee lands w^as under 
consideration, the Congress of the United States, in passing the 
so-called Curtis Act, approved June 28, 1898, expressl}^ provided in 
section 25 thereof as follows: 

Sec. 25. That before any allotment shall be made of lands in the Cherokee Nation, 
there shall be segregated therefrom by the commission heretofore mentioned, in 
separate allotments or otherwise, the one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hun- 
dred acres purchased by the Delaware tribe of Indians from the Cherokee Nation 
under agreement of April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, subject to the 
judicial determination of the rights of said descendants and the Cherokee Nation 
under said agreement. That the Delaware Indians residing in the Cherokee Nation 
are hereby authorized and empowered to bring suit in the Court of Claims of the 
United States, within sixty days after the passage of this act, against the Cherokee 
Nation, for the purpose of determining the rights of said Delaware Indians in and to 
the lands and funds of said nation under their contract and agreement with the 
Cherokee Nation dated April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven; or the 
Cherokee Nation may bring a like suit against said Delaware Indians; and jurisdic- 
tion is conferred on said court to adjudicate and fully determine the same, with right 
of appeal to either party to the Supreme Court of the United States. 

16. The Delawares brought suit, as authorized in the said Curtis Act, 
and the various proceedings had thereunder or in other litigations, and 
the history of the relations of the Government with the Delawares in 
regard to said land will now be taken up more in detail. 

IT. Prior to the passage of the Curtis Act and in the summer of 
1897, inasmuch as the question in regard to the ownership of this land 
was becoming acute, Mr. Richard C. Adams, a Delaware by descent, at 
the request of a very large number of Delawares, came to the city of 
Washington in order to take such steps as might be possible to estab- 
lish and secure the rights of his tribe in this disputed land. 

18. Early in May, 1897, there was submitted to the Department of 
the Interior a memorial entitled "What the Delawares Want," to 
wdiich vt^as annexed a memorandum of their title to this disputed land. 
This very fulh^ sets forth the facts upon which the Delawares rely. 
Cop3" of this memorial is hereto annexed and marked "'Exhibit 2." 

19. Thereupon, on May 4, 1897, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 
wrote the Secretary of the Interior, referring to him this memorial, 
stating that the request of the Delawares contained in the memorial 
was reasonable and that the position taken by them for the five rea- 
.sons assigned in the memorial seemed to be well founded. A copy 
of this connnunication is hereto annexed and marked "Exhibit 3." 
Thereupon, on May 7, 1897, the Secretary of the Interior sent to the 
Dawes Commission the said memorial and the said report of May 4, 
1897, of the Indian Office, with the statement that the Secretary con- 
curred Avith the Indian Office. A copy of this connnunication is hereto 
annexed and marked " Exhibit 4." On the next day, May 8, 1897, the 
Secretary of the Interior wrote, acknowledged the receipt of said 
memorial, and sent a copy of said communications of May 4 and May 
7, 1897, above noted. A copy of said letter of May 8, 1897, is annexed 
hereto and marked "Exhibit 5." 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

20 About this time the Dawes Commission was considering- the 
question of making- an agreement with the Cherokees with respect to 
the allotment of their lands, and the (luestion of the separate right ot 
the Delawares in the Uu^MH) acres became of great importance. In 
view of this, on June 28, 1897. a letter was written on l)ehalt ot the 
Delawares to the Secretary of the Interior, in which it was stated 
that the Delawares desired to treat separately with the Dawes Lorn- 
mission concerning said lands, stating that the Secretary had favorably 
considered the position of the Delawares in regard to the ownership 
of said lands, by yirtue of the said letters or reports aboye mentioned, 
dated ^ilay -i and May 7, 1897. It was also stated that the Delawares 
desired the Commission to settle their rights in the lands and funds ot 
the Cherokee Nation. This communication discusses quite fully the 
rights of the Delawares as they claiin them, and a copy thereof is 
annexed hereto and marked '' Exhibit 6." • „ , .^ 

Inclosed with this letter of June 8, 1897, were three affidavits, one 
made by Mr. S. H. Benge on June 10, 1897, a former Cherokee 
senator; one bv Rev. William Adams, a Delaware, on June 12, 189 <, 
and one by John G. Pratt, who was Indian agent at the time of the 
makino- of ^the Delaware-Cherokee agreement of 1867 on June U, 18. < . 
In each of these affidavits it was stated that the Cherokees sold and the 
Delawares bought 157.(;0O acres of land. Copies o*!/.^^^^?, ^™To^,1 
are annexed hereto and marked, respectively, Exhibits 7, 8, 

and " 9 " 

21 Up to this time the Department of the Interior had taken a 
favorable view of the rights of the Delawares as they contend them 
to be and it was not anticipated that any considerable controversy 
would subsequently arise with reference to such rights. Beginning, 
however, with about the middle of July, 1897, the views ot the Interior 
Department greatly changed, and by reason of this all of the litigation 
which is hereafter mentioned became necessary. ^^ 

'>2 On July 15, 1897, the Dawes Commission reported to the beci-e- 
tary of the Interior in writing, acknowledging the receipt ot the 
Delaware memorial and stating that the question of the l.o<, 600 acres 
of land must tirst be settled, but that the Commission had no authority 
to treat wdth the Delawares alone, as they were not one of the h ive 
Civilized Tribes referred to in the statute creating the Commission, and 
sugo-estincr that there first be an allotment of the 157,600 acres and 
thereaftei^ of the remaining lands, and suggesting also that some 
official opinion be given with respect to said matter. A copy ot tbis 
report is hereto annexed and marked •• Exhibit 10.'' 

•>.3 On \uoust 19, 1S97, the Indian Office reported to the Secretary 
of^tlie Interior in regard to the letter of June 28, 1897, and the report 
of the Dawes Commission of July 15, 1897, a])ovc reterred to 1 he 
Indian Office took the ground that the Delawares could not be treated 
with separately, and that only each registered Delaware had 16(» acres 
objection ))eini- taken also to the fact that Mr. \dams had no contract 
to represent his tribe. , 

'>!: On October 5, 1897, doubtless pursuant to the suggestion ot the 
Da^wes Commission, an official opinion was rendered ])y the Attorney- 
General (see 25 L. D., 297). The Attorney-(Teneral considers the 
treaties of 1866 and the agreement of 1867, which have l)een referred 
to, and th.' Journevcake case (28 C. Cls. K., 281; 155 I . S. 19h) and 
holds in etfect that", under the Delaware-Cherokee agreement ot April 



6 MEMOKIAL Oi^ THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

8, 1867, the Delawares get no greater rights than the Cherokees. with 
the single exception that if upon allotment each Cherokee would get 
less than 160 acres then the living registered Delawares would be 
entitled in any event to 160 acres each. It was by reason of this 
opinion that the Cherokees became emboldened to change the position 
which they had maintained for many years and to claim that the Dela- 
wares practicalh" got nothing for the expenditure of |115T,600 of their 
tribal funds. 

25. On December 27, 1897, a letter was written to the Secretary of 
the Interior requesting him to reconsider the opinion rendered Octo- 
ber 5, 1897. but no attention was paid to the communication during the 
years 1897 and 1898, and not until February 24:, 1899, when the Hon. 
Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Secretary of the Interior, wrote specifically in 
repl}' to said letter of December 27, 1897, stating that inasmuch as a 
suit was pending between the Delawares and the Cherokees b}" virtue 
of the provisions of section 25 of said Curtis Act, it was unnecessary 
to take steps to reconsider said opinion. 

26. Inasmuch as the eli'orts for a reconsideration of this opinion 
were ignored, and as it appeared that the rights of the Delawares were 
in great jeopard}', steps were taken to bring this controversy concern- 
ing this land to the attention of Congress, and in the 3'ear 1898, after 
consideration of said mattei', the said Curtis Act was passed June 28, 
1898, which in section 25, as above set forth, provided for a suit in the 
Court of Claims to determine this disputed question as well as all of the 
rights of the Delawares in the lands and funds of the Cherokee Nation. 
(30 Stat. L., 495-504.) 

27. Thus far Mr. Adams had proceeded to secure the rights of the 
Delawares without any formal contract with his tribe, although author- 
ized b}' various individuals of said tribe. On August 4, 1898, a formal 
contract was entered into between Mr. Adams and Mr. John BuUette 
on the one part and the business committee of the Delaware tribe on 
the other part, a copy of which contract is hereto annexed and marked 
''Exhibit 11." And on July 29, 1898, at a meeting of the Delaware 
tribe duly called, the act of the Delaware business committee in making 
said contract was ratified and confirmed. A copy of said act of ratifi- 
cation is hereto annexed and marked " Exhibit 12.'' 

28. Thereafter and on or about August 4, 1898, pursuant to the 
powers specified in section 25 of the Curtis Act, the Delawares began 
suit in the Court of Claims of the United States against the Cherokee 
Nation by the filing of a petition wherein the Delawares, after setting 
forth their rights as aforesaid, prayed the court to determine all of 
their rights and to adjudge that they we'*e the owners of the 157,600 
acres of land and were in addition entitled to share equallv with all 
other C'herokee citizens in all of the remaining lands of the Cherokee 
Nation and in all of its national funds, hi said petition it was shown 
that the Cherokee had unlawfully admitted vast numbers of persons 
as citizens of said nation since the date of the DelaWare-Cherokee 
agreement — persons who had contributed nothing to the funds of the 
Cherokee — thus cutting down the pro rata share of each l)elaware in 
the lands and funds of said nation; and the Delawares prayed the court 
that it should also determine what persons as citizens of said nation 
should be entitled to share in its lanus and funds. 

29. Not long after the connnencement of th(^ said suit, and on August 
23, 1898, Logan, Demond & Harby, attorne3\s in said suit for the Dela- 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 7 

wares, wrote to the Secretary of the Interior requesting that the said 
157,600 acres of hmd be surveyed and segreoated pursuant to section 25 
of the Curtis Act. and that this ))e done at \cast prior to trial and judg- 
ment in said suit. This conununication was not noticed uiitil Noveni- 
l)er 4, 1899, in a certain conununictition of the Secretary of the Interior 
to the Dawes Coniniission, which will hereafter he mentioned. 

30. On October 11, 1898, at a meeting of the Delaware tribe duly 
called, r(\s()lutions were passed which eertitied to the selections made 
l)y the Delawares in the Cherokee country, embracing said 157, (JOO 
acres, and a list of which was annexed to said resolution. These selec- 
tions are substantially the same as those which have been tiled with the 
Court of Claims and the Dawes Commission, which will be hereinafter 
referred to. 

Said resolution requested the Government to make selections of 
these lands and ratify all acts of the said Richard C. Adams and John 
Bullette, done on behalf of said tribe with respect to said lands, 
and also again ratified said agreement of August 4. 1898, as well as 
the compensation thereafter provided to be given. A copy of said 
resolution is hereto annexed and marked ''Exhibit 13.'' 

31. After the institution of said suit in August, 1898, and during 
the remainder of that 3'ear and the succeeding years up to October, 
1902, when the case was argued, the Delawares, through and by the 
aid of their said attorneys, secured a very large amount of testimon}- 
in various parts of this country' at very large expense. 

32. On November •!, 1899, the Secretary of the Interior wrote 
to the said Dawes Connuission with reference to the said letter of 
Logan, Demond & Harby, dated August 23, 1897, ri^questing an opin- 
ion from the Dawes Commission as to what should be done about the 
segregation of 157,600 acres of land. A copy of this letter is hereto 
annexed and mai'ked ''Exhibit l-l."" 

33. On November 20, 1899, the Indian Office wrote the Secretary of 
the Interior in relation to his request of November 1, 1899. and 
inclosed a report of the Dawes Commission dated Noveml)er 30. 1899. 
The Indian Office, basing its statement upon said report, stated that 
the Cherokee rolls of citizenship had not yet been completed: that the 
lands must be segregated before allotment; that thei-e could not be any 
allotment until the rolls were ready, which were expected to be finished 
sometime in 1900, and that thereafter segregation and allotment could 
take place. Copy of this communication of November 20, 1899, is 
hereto annexed and marked '"Exhibit 15." The said report of the 
Dawes Conmiission of November 13, 1899, was approved by the Sec- 
retar\' of the Interior in a letter of November 22, 18!>9, a copy of 
which is annexed hereto and marked "Exhibit 16." 

3-1. Subsequent to the l)eginning of said suit and up to Ft'bruary, 
1901, from time to time the said attorneys had l)een carefully prt'par- 
ing maps and ])lats showing the specific lands selected, occu|)ied. and 
improved by the Delawai^es under their agreement of April 8. 1867, 
but in view of the foregoing report that no allotment or segregation 
could be made until the Cherokee rolls had been ])repared, the maps 
or plats of such selected lands had not been actually filed with the 
Dawes Commission, although a copy had l)e(Mi fil(>d with the Court of 
Claims. 

35. On February 27, 1901, the attorneys wrote the Secretary of the 
Interior, in(dosirig three maps showing the specific location of said 



5 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

157,600 acres of land, requesting- that it be .segregated and that one 
map be sent to the Dawes Commission, and stating that there were 
copies on tile in said suit in the Court of Claims. A cop}' of said letter 
is hereto annexed and marked " Exhibit 17." 

36. Up to February, 1901, and during the period beginning Novem- 
ber, 1898, not only did the said Dclawares, through their attorney, 
at largo expense take much testimon}' in said suit, but also they, 
through him, investigated the status of the Delawares by examination 
of the records in the Office of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs from 
the beginning of the Government, and made copies of papers in rela- 
tion thereto at the expense of many thousands of dollars, said copies 
amounting to more than 16,000 pages of tj-pewritten matter. 

In addition, said Delawares, through their said attorney, took pro- 
ceedings before the Department of the Interior f i-om time to time to 
oppose the efforts of certain Cherokees and others* to obtain oil leases 
upon various- lands claimed or occupied by the Delawares, all of which 
took a ver}" large amount of time and Mas undertaken at great expense. 

37. B}^ letter of the Secretar}" of the Interior, dated March !i, 1901, 
he acknowledged receipt of the three maps sent February 27, 1901, 
and reported that one of them had been sent to the Dawes Commission. 
Therefore, as early as March, 1901, the Dawes Commission were 
notified as to the lands claimed by the Delawares which should be seg- 
regated pursuant to section 25 of said Curtis Act. Said Dawes Com- 
mission, however, did not attempt to make an}- segregation of said 
lands in obedience to the terms of said Curtis Act, and not until long- 
after the passage of the act called the Cherokee allotment act, approved 
July 1, 1902, as will hereinafter appear. 

38. On March 23, 1901, the Dawes (Commission, b\' its chairman. 
Tarns Bixl)y, reported to the Secretary of the Interior with relation 
to the said maps so sent as aforesaid, acknowledging receipt of said 
maps and stating that the rolls of the Cherokees had not yet been pre- 
pared; that there was no need of segregation before allotment, and 
that thei'e need be no segregation before the decision of the Court of 
Claims in the said suit, the report stating that the segregation would 
merely be the withholding from allotment of 157,600 acres, and that 
if pending the suit the Cherokee lands should be allotted, the Com- 
mission could in such case reserve the Delaware lands. 

The Commission also expressly stated that, in order to segregate, it 
needed a description of the legal subdivisions of the land claimed by 
the Delawares. A copv of this report is annexed hereto and marked 
"Exhibit 18." 

39. On April 3, 1901, the Indian Office reported to the Secretary con- 
cerning the said report of the Dawes Conunission (Exhibit 18), quoting 
the substance of the report and stating that the Department had nothing 
to do with the etfect of the segregation; that there was no necessity for 
it at that time because the Delawares occupied the lands. The Indian 
Office, however, stated that there could be no allotment before segre- 
gation, r(>f erring to reports above quoted, dated November 13 and 
November 20, 1899. The report of March 23, 1901, was approved by 
the Secretar}' of the Interioi- on A])ril 8, 1{)01, and on the same day 
the Secretary wrote a letter, (|uoting the su1)stance of said repoi't 
rcf(n-ring to the unfinished condition of the Cherokee rolls, stating that 
a sc^gregation would not 1)0 an adjudication; that there could be no 
allotment to Cht>rokoos until sogi-ogation. and that the Interior Dopart- 
uKMit approved >said roi)orts dated March 2.') and A])ril 3, 1901. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 9 

Copies of suicU-oninmnicution.s of April 3, April 8. and April 8. 1901, 
are hereto annexed and marked, respeotivelv, Exhibits '•"IH," "20,"" 
and "21."' 

40. Notwithstanding' the request for segregation made l)y the Dela- 
wares, pursuant to the terms of the Curtis Act, in Fehruary, March, 
and April, 1901, the said Dawes Commission took no steps to make 
said segregation during the remainder of the year 1901 and during all 
of the year 1902 up to the time of the passage of the Cherokee allot- 
ment act of July 1. 1902. and not even then in pursuance of ssiid section 
23 of said Cherokee allotment act until long thereafter, in Deceml)er 
of that year. 

•11. On July 1, 1902, there was passed by Congress, and approved 
b}^ the President, an act popularlv known as the "Cherokee allotment 
act." 

This was intended to provide for allotment of lands in the Cherokee 
Nation and also to protect the rights of the Dclawares to said 15T.()00 
acres of land, it appearing that the suit in the Court of Claims had 
not been decided. 

Section 23 of said act is as follows: 

Sec. 23. All Delaware Indians who are members of the Cherokee Nation .shall take 
lands and share in the funds of the tribe, as their rights may V)e dete'inined by the 
judgment of the Court of Claims, or by the Supreme Court if appealed, in the suit 
instituted therein by the Delawares against the Cherokee Nation, and now pending; 
but if said suit be not determined before said Commission is ready to begin the allot- 
ment of lands of the tribe as herein provided the Commission shall cause to be segre- 
gated one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred acres of land, including 
lands which have been selected and occupied by Delawares in conformity to the 
provisions of tlieir agreement with the Cherokees dated April eighth, eigliteen hun- 
dred and sixty-seven, such lands so to remain, subject to disposition according to 
such judgment as may be rendered in said cause; and said Commission shall there- 
upon proceed to the allotment of the remaining lands of the tribe as aforesaid. Said 
Commission shall, when final judgment is rendered, allot lands to such Delawares 
in conformity to the terms of the judgment and their individual rights there- 
under. Nothing in this act shall in any manner impair the lights of either jtarty to 
said contract as the same may be linally determined by the court, or shall interfere 
with the holdings of the Delawares under their contract with the Cherokees of April 
eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, until their rights under said contract are 
determined by the courts in their suit now pending against the Cherokees, and said 
suit shall be advanced on the dockets of said courts and determined at the earliest 
time practicable. 

It appears from said section 23 that the Delawares were to take such 
rights in the lands as should be determined by the Court of Claims or 
b}^ the Supreme Court on appeal in said suit. It is also apparent that 
the act provided that, as the suit was not determined, the Connnission 
should before allotting any Cherokee lands cause to be segregated the 
157,600 acres of land, to remain subject to the decision of the court. 
Notwithstanding the terms of this act, as will be seen hereaft(>r. the 
Dawes Connnission. claiming to have segregated these lands, neverthe- 
less allowed Cherokee citizens to tile applications for the .segregated 
lands, and although as subsequently appears the Secretary of the 
Interior claims that he never had approved the segregation, yet, never- 
theless, the Dawes Commission, prior to any such segregation, actually 
proceeded with the allotment of the Cherokee lands, received fi-om 
ten to twelve thousand applications, and actually issued over live 
thou.sand certiticates. 

42. It was provided in section Ot» of .said Cherokee allotment act 
that any person aggrieved by the tiling of applications for allotment 
of lands nmst institute contest within nine months after the date of 



10 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

the application or be entire!}^ barred. The said Dawes Commission, 
although claiming that said lands had been segregated, nevertheless 
when applications were filed l)v Cherokees for portions of said lands, 
notified from time to time Delawares in possession and occupancy of 
said lands to appear and contest pursuant to said section 61), all of 
which was a great hardship to numerous Delawares and entirely illegal 
and unauthorized. All of these facts will be set forth later and 
more fully. 

43. After the passage of the said Cherokee allotment act, during 
July, August, September, October, and November, 1902, said Dawes 
Commission took no steps to segregate said lands, either by virtue of 
the provisions of the Curtis Act, section 25, or the Cherokee allotment 
act, section 23. 

44. On September 25, 1902, the Dawes Commission issued a procla- 
mation that the Cherokee land office would be opened at Vinita, Ind. T., 
on January 1, 1903, to allot lands to the Cherokees; said office to be 
open until April 30, 1903, and then to remove to Tahlequah, where it 
was to be opened on May 4, 1903. A copy of this proclamation is- 
hereto annexed and marked '" Exhibit 22." 

45. On September 23, 1902, a letter was written to the Dawes Com- 
mission requesting a copy of the Delaware roll, and on September 27, 
1902, Tams Bixby, chairman of said Commission, replied, stating that 
the Dehiware roll had not yet been completed. A cop}" of this last 
communication is hereto annexed and marked " Exhibit 23."" 

46. On October 2, 1902, Walter S. Logan, on behalf of the Dela- 
ware Indians, wrote to the Department of the Interior, inquiring with 
resjDect to the segregation of their lands and the question of allotments. 
His letter is quoted in a report of October 20, 1902, from the Dawes 
Commission, which is hereinafter referred to, and a copy of which is 
annexed as '* Exhibit 27." 

This communication of October 2, 1902, of Mr. Logan's was, on 
October 6, 1902, referred by the Interior Department to the Dawes 
Commission for report, and the report was made as hereinafter men- 
tioned on October 20, 1902. On October 8, 1902, in reply to a letter 
dated Septeml)er 30, 1902, Mr. Tams Bixby, chairman of the Dawes 
Commission, in response to a request for a list of the Delawares who 
are on approved rolls, stated that the list could not be given, saj'ing: 

It will be impossible for the Commission to furnish you with a list of those Dela- 
wares against whose enrollment no contest or objection has been entered. 

Copy of this communication of October 8, 1902, is hereto annexed 
and marked " Exhi])it 24." 

47. On October 15, 1902, a meeting of the Delawares was duly called 
and held in the Indian Territory and resolutions were passed reciting 
the rights of the Delawares to the disputed lands, referring to the reso- 
lutions of July 28, 1898, authorizing Messrs. Adams and Bullette to 
represent them. Said resolutions of October 15, 1902, ratified the 
acts of Messrs. Adams and Bullette; ratified the list of Delaware seg- 
regated lands as filed in the Court of Claims, aggregating 157,600 
acres, and referred to other claims which the Delawares had against 
the Government. A copy of this resolution is hen^to annexed and 
marked ""Exhibit 25.'' 

48. At said time, October 15, 1902, said Delawares passed a further 
resolution protesting against allotments attempted to be made on their 
segregated lands, referring to the great amount of money expended 



MEMORIAL OF THP: DELAWARE INDIANS. 11 

by them in improvements, requesting* the Government to segreg-ate 
the lands finally, and specifying that copies of the resolution should 
be sent to the Secretary of the Interior and the Dawes Conunission. 
Copies of all these resohitions were so sent. A copy of this resolution 
of Octo])er 15, 190^, is hereto annexed and marked "Exhibit :i()." 

■i'.K Prior to said October 15, 11K»2, the Delawares had duly Hied in 
the Court of Claims, as (nidence therein, fidl statements with plats or 
maps showing- specifically the ownership, description, and boinidaries 
of all said Dehiware selected lands, aggregating 15T,6»>0 acres. 

50. On October 20, 1902, the Dawes Conunission made a report to 
the Secretary of the Interior with reference to said letter of Walter 
S. Logan, dated October 2, 1902. which was referred to the Conunis- 
sion by the Interior Department Octol^er f). 1902. 

In this report the Dawes Conunission cpiote from Mr. Logan's letter 
which requested that there be no allotment of Cherokee lands until the 
determination of the suit in the Court of Claims and which set forth 
the reasons why such allotments should be prejudicial to the rights of 
the Delawares. The Dawes Commission ciuotes section 2:-> of the 
Cherokee allotment act: reports that allotments would not be delayed 
until decision in said suit, as this might mean a delay until the Supreme 
Court had passed upon the question; takes the ground that the Dela- 
wares are not entitled to lands outside of the 157,600 acres, and finally 
reports that although the Commission thinks that it has no authority" 
to allot lands to Delawares not embraced in the '' segregation provided 
for in the statute'' (Cherokee allotment act), that nevertheless the 
Commission believes "that upon the application of any Delaware citi- 
zen there should be reserved from allotment until the final determina- 
tion of the suit of the Delawares against the Ch^rokees only such lands 
not embraced in said segregation and not exceeding land equaling in 
value 110 acres of average allottable lands of the Cherokee Nation as 
contains permanent and valuable improvements owned by such Dela- 
ware citizen." 

A copy of this report is hereunto annexed and marked ** Exhibit 27." 

51. In view of this ruling by the Dawes Commission, that Delawares 
could file applications for lands outside of said segregation if they 
were occupied by such Delawares, and relying thereon the amended 
schedule of segregated lands filed in the Court of Claims and with the 
Dawes Commission in Deceml)er, 1902, as hereinafter mentioned, in 
some instances included lands occupied by Delawares outside of said 
segregated lands, and this accounts for the discrepancy in some of the 
descriptions, which was corrected by amended schedule filed in Jan- 
uary, 1903, as will subsequently appear. 

52. In October, 1902, the said case of the Delawares against the 
Cherokees in the Court of Claims was argued and submitted. 

53. Said report of the Dawes Conunission of October 20, 1902 
(Exhil)it 27), was not passed upon by the Interior l)e{)artment until 
November 22, 1902, when, in a report from the Indian Otlice to the 
Secretary, dated November 22, 1902, the Indian Othce quotes from 
Mr. Logan's letter of October 2 and from said report of the Dawes 
Commission of October 20 and recommends the api)roval of said report 
of October 20, 1902. Thereafter, on November 29, 1902, the Secretary 
wrote to the said Walter S. Logan in answer to his letter of October 
2, 1902. inclosing a copy of said report of October 20 of the Dawes 
Conunission and said report of November 22 of the Indian Ollice, the 



12 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Secretary stating that he concurred in said reports. A copy of said 
Indian Office report of November 22, 1902, and of said Secretary's let- 
ter of November 29, 1902, arc hereto annexed and marked, respective!}', 
Exhibits ^^28" and "29." 

51. At the argument of the said case of the Delawares against the 
Cherokees in said Court of Chiims, in October, 1902, there was printed 
in the record a description of the Delaware segregated lands, embrac- 
ing 157,600 acres, which in the record were numbered pages 738 to 
777, inclusive. At the time of said argument and thereafter it appeared 
that there were some inaccuracies in said schedule and some omissions, 
and it was agreed between counsel for the Delawares and the Cherokees 
that the amended schedule of said lands should be prepared and filed 
in the Court of Claims in lieu of said schedule previously prepared 
and numbered pages 738 to 777, inclusive. The fact that said stipu- 
lation had been made and that such corrections were to be had was 
made known to the Dawes Commission on December 8, 1902, and said 
Tams Bixby telegraphed as follows: 

Have description of laud in record of Delaware case, pages 738 to 777, been cor- 
rected by stipulation, as suggested by you? If so, forward certified copy at once. 
Answer. 

Tams Bixby, Chairmnn. 

On December 10, 1902, the said Richard C. Adams telegraphed to 
said Tams Bixby as chairman at Muscogee, Ind. T., as follows: 

Logan has signed stipulation and description. Mailing them to Hutchings to-day. 
He will hand you co^jy. 

The said Logan and Hutchings were respectively counsel and attor- 
neys for the said parties in said suit. Said amended description and 
said stipulation were received and filed by said Commission on or about 
Deceml)er 10, 1902, and on December 17, 1902, said Dawes Commission 
duly adopted the following resolution: 

Be it resolved hi/ the Commission, That the acting chairman cause to be set aside and 
segregated 157,600 acres of land in the Cherokee Nation in accordance with the pro- 
visions of section 23 of the act of Congress approved .Tuly 1, 1902 (Public — No. 241), 
subject to disposition according to such judgment as may be rendered in the case of 
the Delaware Indians v. Cherokee Nation, now pending in the United States Court 
of Claims, and as shown by description of said lands in the stipulation of counsel for 
parties in said case, dated at Washington, D. C, December 10, 1902. 

55. In obedience to said resolution the acting chairman, Tams Bixby, 
did cause said lands to be segregated as aforesaid, so far as the said 
Dawes Commission had power so to do. 

56. On January 1, 1903, pursuant to the proclamation (Exhibit 22), 
a Cherokee land office was opened at Vinita, Ind. T., with a full force 
of clerks and officers, for the purpose of making allotments of Chero- 
kee lands. What proceedings were hud at said office until said office 
was closed will be more fully shown when the evidence of Tams Bixb\', 
taken in a certain suit brought on or al)out fluTie 2, 1903, which will be 
hereinafter mentioned, is discussed. 

57. On .January 5, 1903, the said Tams Bixby wrote two letters, one 
to the said Walter S. Logan and one to the said Walter S. Logan and 
William T. Hutchings, counsel for the parties in said suit, in relation 
to the stipulation filed with said Dawes Connnission December 6, 
1902, which letter stated tiiat the Connnission hadsegi-egated 157,541.71 
acres under the CherokcM^ allotment act, section 23. but that there 
were discrepancies in said description: that 60 acres had been deducted, 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 13 

and requesting the tiling of an amended description showing said 
segregated lands. In said letters the particular discrepancies were 
speciticall}^ pointed out. Copies of said letters are hereto annexed 
and respectively marked Exhibits "30" and ''31." 

On or about ehinuarv 15 or 1(>, 19(13, there was forwarded to the 
said Dawes Commission a second amended schedule and description of 
said Delaware lands, pointing out the reasons for changes. A copy of 
this communication to the said Bixl)y, inclosing said second amended 
schedule, is hereto annexed and marked "" Exhibit '32,'' which second 
amended schedule was received by said Commission on or about 
January 23, 1903. 

On or about February 2, 1903, the Court of Claims, in said suit of 
the Delawares against the Cherokees, rendered its opinion and judg- 
ment, dismissing the petition of the Delawares, although said court, in 
its opinion, found that the Delawares had certain rights, and although 
certain of the rights of the Delawares were not disputed in said suit, 
yet, nevertheless, said petition was wholly dismissed, and appeal was 
taken to the Supreme Court of the United States on or about March 
18, 1903, which appeal is still pending and undetermined. 

59. On March 17, 1903, the said Dawes Commission reported to the 
Secretary of the Interior in regard to its work in allotting Cherokee 
lands during the month of February, 1903. This report shows the 
number of applicants for lands and the number of contests and com- 
plaints, and states that the approval of 38 applications was withheld 
because the land applied for ''was embraced in the 157,600 acres of 
land which the Commission caused to be segregated for the Delaware 
Indians pending the determination of the suit instituted in the Court 
of Claims and in the Supreme Court, if appealed, by the Delawares 
against the Cherokee Nation." Copy of this report is hereto annexed 
and marked ''Exhibit 33." This report was forwarded by the Indian 
Office to the Secretary on March 27, 1903 (see Exhibit 34), and was 
approved by the Secretar}^ on March 30, 1903 (see approval, Exhibit 35). 

60. On April 16, 1903, the Dawes Commission reported to the Sec- 
retary of the Interior concerning its work for the month of March in 
allotting Cherokee lands, and this report also showed that 57 applica- 
tions were held up because they embraced a portion of said segregated 
lands. This report was forwarded by the Indian Office to the Secre- 
tary on April 30, 1903. Copies of said report' and of said communica- 
tion forwarding the same are hereto annexed and marked Exhibits 
"36" and "37." 

61. On April 20, 1903, the Dawes Commission made a report to the 
Secretary of the Interior of its action in segregating 157,600 acres of 
land pursuant to the Cherokee allotment act. After referring to its 
report of October 20, 1902 (Exhibit 27), Mr. Eogan's letter of October 
2, 1902, the Department's letter of November 29, 1902 (Exhibit 29), 
the amended schedule of segregated lands filed December 16, 1902, the 
stipulation of December 10, 1902, the resolution of the Commission of 
December 17, 1902, the letter of said Commission of .January 5, 1903 
(Exhibits 30 and 31), the second amended schedule received January 
23, 1903, and certain other correspondence, the Commission reports 
that certain of the segregated lands are eml)raced within town sites, 
and that certain Delaware citizens claim that their lands have not been 
segregated or included in the schedule. The Commission also reports 



14 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

that it thinks the scheduk' as a whole is not accurate, and finally states 
as follows: 

The Commission believes that some steps should be taken to guard against the 
possibility of the Supreme Court rendering a judgment adopting said schedule as to 
definite and specific tracts of land to which the Delawares are entitled under their 
claim. 

A copy of this report is hereto annexed and marked "Exhibit 38." 
Annexed to this report and referred to therein were certain exhib- 
its (A to H), consisting- of various letters which are sufficienth^ described 
in the said report and are not annexed thereto. 

62. On April 28, 1U03, the Indian Ofiice reported to the Secretarj^, 
referring to Exhibits 28, 29, and 34, and to a letter from Richard C. 
Adams of April 18, 1903, and after reciting the claims made by the 
Delawares in regard to segregation and allotments of land and the 
objections of the Delawares to the receipt of applications on segregated 
lands, from the fact that this gives rise to contests, the Indian Office 
then referring to Exhibits 27, 29, 33, and 34, makes the unqualified 
statement, especially relying upon Exhilnts 33 and 34, as follows: 

From said monthly report (March 17, 1903, Exhibit 33) it would appear, as stated 
by Mr. Adams in his communication, that the Commission to the Five Civilized 
Tribes has, in accordance with the provisions of section 23 of the Cherokee agree- 
ment, segregated the 157,600 acres hereinbefore mentioned. 

In this communication the Indian Office shows that said monthly 
report of March IT, 1903 (Exhibit 33), had been approved by the 
Interior Department on March 31, 1903. 

The Indian Office reports further that it was the dutv of the Dawes 
Commission to segregate these lands and that it did so. "This duty 
was obligatory and not discretionary.'' 

It was further reported that the Dawes Commission had no author- 
ity to allot any segregated lands during the pendency of the Dela- 
ware-Cherokee suit, either to Delawares or to Cherokees, and that 
if any Cherokee citizen should apply for the allotment of segregated 
lands his application should be rejected; that the mere tiling of this 
application and the marking of it "rejected" would lead to confusion. 
The Indian Office reports, therefore, that the Commission should be 
instructed as above set forth. A copy of this report of April 28, 1903, 
is hereto annexed and marked '"Exhibit 39." 

63. On April 30, 1903, the Indian Office made a further report to 
the Secretary, referring to its report of April 28, 1903 (Exhibit 39), 
the Dawes Commission's report of April 20, 1903 (Exhibit 38), and a 
further report of the Da\ves Commission of October 20, 1902 (Exhibit 27). 

After reciting and quoting from these reports, and after referring to 
the schedule of December 16, 1902, the stipulation of December 10, 
1902, the resolution of the Dawes Commission of December 17, 1902, 
the second amended schedule of Januar}- 23, 1903, and especially after 
referring to the suggestion by the Commission that the Interior 
Department should guard against adverse action by the Supreme 
Court, the Indian Office reports as follows: 

From the papers before this office it appears that the Commission has segregated 
lands for the l)c>lawares, if any segn-gation has been made, in accordance with 
schedules furnished it by Mr. Adams; that the Dawes Commission should have made 
the segregation itself, iising, if it desired, the schedules furnished by Mr. Adams. 

The Indian Office reports that town sites which had been selected 
before the segregation was made should stand, but that those which 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 15 

were selected after such segreo-ation were probably invalid selections; 
that furthermore the Dawes Comuiission has no jurisdiction over the 
segregated lands at all, but would seem to have power to correct the 
segregation if inaccurate; that if there has been a segregation no 
citizen should be allowed to tile upon these segregated lands. 

The Indian Office takes the ground that the Supreme Court in the 
Delaware suit has no power to approve anv schedule on tile in said suit. 

With reference to the recommendation of the Dawes Commission 
that the Department should intervene in said suit in the Supreme 
Court, the Indian Office requests that the Dawes Commission should 
furnish a corrected schedule for its information and "'for such action 
with reference to bringing the matter to the attention of the court as 
the Department may consider proper. The Conmiission should be 
advised whether or not it has segregated the land. If the Interior 
Department decides that the land has not been segregated the Dawes 
Commission should be instructed to segregate it immediately.-" A 
copy of this report of April 30, 1903, is hereto annexed and marked 
^'Exhibit 10." 

61. On May 16, 1903, the Dawes Commission made a report to the 
Secretary of its work for the month of April, 1903, stating in sub- 
stance that 7,800 tickets of admission to the Cherokee land office had 
been issued since January 1. 1903; that in April. "2.381 applications 
were received; that approval of 63 was withheld because they were in 
the segregated Delaware land; that 750 allotment certiticates and an 
equal number of homestead certiticates had been written, and that 5(»0 
allotment certiticates and an equal number of homestead certiticates 
had been executed and forwarded to the allottees in cases where there 
had been no contests. 

It was stated that during the four months of January, February, 
March, and April, 1903, there had been 6,813 allotments, and 7,987 
applications, of which 5,293 had been approved; that various applica- 
tions had been withheld, including 176 because the land was embraced 
within the segregation. The particulars of various contests were 
given. A copy of this report is hereto annexed and marked "Exhibit 
41." 

65. During this period of time various Cherokees attempted to 
apply for allotments on Delaware lands in the possession and occupa- 
tion of Delawares and embraced within this segregated land. Among 
such Delawares w^as John H. Secondyne, of White Oak, Ind. T.. and 
his case is mentioned as an illustration of numerous others. On May 
10 and May 12, 1903, he wrote to the Dawes Commission, complaining 
that certain lands which he held as a Delaware within said segregated 
lands had been tiled on by one George Hurd, and asking for protec- 
tion and information as to what should be done. 

On May 20, 1903, the Dawes Commission wrote to the said John H. 
Secondyne in reply to said letters, inclosing plat of the land tiled on 
by the said Hurd, a copy of which plat is hereto annexed and marked 
"Exhibit 12." Said Dawes Commission stated that there would be no 
allotment, however, until the Delaware-Cherokee suit was ended. ])ut 
that Mr. Secondyne shoidd appear l)efore the Commission with a view 
to instituting contest proceedings. A copy of this letter of May 20, 
1903, is hereto annexed and marked ''Exhil)it 13." 

66. In view of the fact that Cherokees were tiling applications for 
the Delaware segregated lands and contests in respect thereto were 



16 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

being suggested by the Dawes Commission, although the suit of the 
Delawares against the Cherokees, authorized by the Curtis Act, had 
not 3^et been determined, and in view of the claim made by the Secre- 
tary of the Interior that no segregation had been made, and in order to 
protect the Delawares in their rights, the said Delawares. through their 
business committee and their said agent, Mr. Richard C. Adams and 
others, on June 2, 1903, brought suit in the supreme court of the 
District of Columbia against Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Secretary of the 
Interior, and Tams Bixby, Thomas B. Needles, Clifton R. Brecken- 
ridge, and William E. Stanley, as members of the Commission to the 
Five Civilized Tribes, in which suit, on said June 2, 1903, a restrain- 
ing order was issued by Thomas H. Anderson, justice of said court, 
in accordance with the prayer of the bill of complaint. 

67. The bill of complaint alleged in its substance the rights of the 
Delawares under the agreement of April 8, 1867; the terms of the 
Curtis Act authorizing the Delaware-Cherokee suit; the l)eginning and 
pendency of said suit; the terms of the Cherokee allotment act; 
the fact that Congress had provided for segregation of said lands 
before there should be any allotment of any Cherokee lands; the tiling" 
of said schedules showing 1.57,600 acres; the said acts of the Dawes 
Commission in segregating said lands; the wrongful acts of the Dawes 
Commission in allowing Cherokees general^ to hie applications for 
segregated lands and in allowing and urging that contests be made in 
respect thereto; the fact that the Delawares had protested; the fact 
that the acts of the Dawes Commission were wholly illegal; the par- 
ticulars in which the Delawares would be damaged l\v reason of such 
illegal acts; the fact that there were numerous fraudulent and collu- 
sive tilings by Cherokees on said segregated land, and the fact that 
the Delawares had otherwise no remedy at law. 

In support of this bill athdavits were tiled and letters from the Dawes 
Commission substantiating the matters alleged in the complaint. 

Jurisdiction was obtained by service uf^on the Secretary" of the 
Interior and the said Dawes Commission. 

68. In said complaint in said suit the Delawares prayed that all 
applications for segregated lands should be stricken from the tiles and 
obliterated; that the defendants should cause to be removed from the 
segregated lands all persons claiming under any such illegal applica- 
tion tiled after such segregation; that the defendants be restrained 
from receiving any applications on the segregated lands or from con- 
sidering an}^ contests based upon applications for said segregated land; 
that it be enjoined from considering that the statute of limitations as 
to contests with respect to any Delaware Indian had commenced to 
run; and that also defendants be enjoined from considering or receiv- 
ing applications for allotments of the segregated lands or determining 
any (piestion in respect thereto under the Cherokee allotment act, 
pending the decision by the supreme court of the Delaware-Cherokee 
suit. 

69. On June -1, 1903, the Indian Office transmitted to the Secretar}^ 
of the Interior a report of the Dawes Commission, dated May 16, 1903 
(Exhiljit 41), showing the work of said Couuuission for the month of 
April, 1903, with the recommendation that it be approved. A copy 
of said letter of elune 4, 1903, is hereto annexed and marked '"'• Exhibit 
44." On June 6, 1903, the Secretary wrote the Counnissioner of 
Indian Affairs, referring to said Exhibit 44, and approving b}^ letter 



MEMORIAL OF THP: DELAWAKK INDIANS. 17 

to be inclosed to the Dawes Commission its said report of May ]<», 
1903 (Exhibit 41). A copy of said communication of June (i. I'JOo. is 
hereto annexed and marked '"Exhibit 45." 

To, On or about June 19, lij()3, the said Secretary of tlie Interior 
veritied his answer in stiid suit so brought against him June 2, r.»(>3, 
and in said answer tiie said Secretary took the })osition that any segre- 
gation mad(» or attem})ted to be made of tlie said Delaware lands by 
the Dawes Conmiission was subject to his ap])roval as Secretary, and 
that he had never api)roved any segregation of such lands: that lie was 
considering- the question of approving- such segregation when the suit 
was brought, and that further the approval by him of the segregation 
of such lands was a matter of the exercise of his judgment and 
discretion. A copv of said answer is hereto annexed and marked 
"Exhibits;."' 

71. On or about June 23. 11103, the Delaware Indians, comi)hunants 
in said suit against the Secretary and the Daw(>s Connnissioti. amended 
their complaint in view of the claim made by said Secretary that saifl 
segregation had never l)een approved by him, and in connection with 
said amended complaint and as a part thereof the said Delaware 
Indians, complainants, referred to and annexed various of the said 
reports and communications hereinabove referred to, dated as follows, 
and which have been hereinbefore referred to, to wit: 

(a) Report Dawes Commission, October 20, 1902 (Exhibit 27). 

(b) Report of Indian Office, November 22, 1902 (Exhibit 28). 

(c) Secretary's action and letter. November 29. 1902 (Exhibit 29). 
(c-1) Report Dawes (Jonuuission. ]\Iarch 17, 1903 (Exhibit 33). 
(c-2) Report Indian Office thereon, March 27, 1903 (Exhibit 34). 
(c-3) Seci-etary's action thereon and letter,March 30, 1903(Exhibit 35). 
(c-4) Keport Dawes Commission. April 16. 1903 (Exhibit 3(1). 
(c-5) Report Indian Office, April 30, 1903 (Exhibit 37). 

(d) Conmiissioner's report referred to in Secretary's answer April 
20, 1903 (Exhibit 38). 

(e) Report of Indian Office to Secretarv. April 28.1903 (Exhibit 39). 

(f) Report of Indian Office to Secretary, April 30, 1903 (Exhibit 40). 

(g) Report of Dawes Conunission, May 16, 1903 (Exhibit 41). 
(h) Secretai-y's approval thereof, June 6. 1903 (Exhibit 45). 

The said complainants in said amended complaint alleged that by 
reason of the said reports and action of the Dawes Commission and 
the Secretary of the Interior, as a matter of fact said segregation had 
been approved, and that subsequently to January 1, 1903, said Dawes 
Commission had been receiving numerous applications foi- allotments 
of Cherokee land — over 8,000 applications, covering more than 800,000 
acres: that the approval of said aUotments. or some of them, was based 
uj)on the prior segregation of said land, and that none of said allot- 
ments would be valid unless there had previously b(>en said segrega- 
tion according to the terms of section 23 of said Cherokee allotment 
act. A copy of said amended complaint (excluding said reports, which 
have been hereinbefore annexed as exhil)its) is nereto annexed and 
marked '' Exhibit 47." 

72. In the latter part of June, 1903, in response to said amended 
complaint, the said Ethan vVllen Hitchcock. Secretary of tiie Interior, 
tiled his answer to such amended complaint, wherein and wlxnvby he 
denied that the acts of his Department, of himself, and of said Dawes 

S. Doc. 16 2 



18 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS, 

Commission amounted to an approval of said segregation; denied that 
all of the acts of his Department were fully set forth in the exhibits 
annexed to said amended complaint; denied that the allotment of 
Cherokee lands made Ij}' the Dawes Commission was with his approval; 
alleged that the question of the approval of such segregation was being- 
considered by him at the time of the institution of said suit, and fur- 
ther alleged that if said segregation had l)een made and approved by 
him, that nevertheless he, as such Secretary, under the law had the 
right to correct, modify, annul, vacate, or set it aside, as well as any 
allotments passed upon by said Dawes Commission. In support of his 
answer, said Secretary filed his own afiidaA'it stating in substance that 
any segregation of Delaware lands must be approved by him; that he 
had the matter under advisement, but had not approved it; that it was 
a matter calling for his own discretion. In addition the Secretary 
submitted the. affidavit of the chairman of the Dawes Commission, in 
which he stated that the said Dawes Commission had made a segrega- 
tion of said land, but that there were errors in it; that there had 
been complaints in regard to it and that the same should be corrected. 
Copies of such answer of said Hitchcock, his said affidavit and the affi- 
davit of the said Tams Bixb}" are hereto annexed and respectivelv 
marked Exhibits ''48," "49," and "50." 

T3. On July 21, 1903, said Dawes Commission wrote to K. S. Murchi- 
son in response to a letter of July 16, 19<>3, stating that since July 1, 
1903, 27 applications had been made by Cherokees for lands included 
in the present form of the Delaware segregation, upon the claim that 
that land belonged not to Delaw^ares, but to Cherokees. The Commis- 
sion described the lands so applied for and stated that such applications 
had not been passed upon and that no certificates of allotment had 
been issued. 

74. On August 31, 1903, Tams Bixby, Commissioner in charge of 
the Cherokee land office, wrote to the said Richard C. Adams, stating 
that on eJuly 10. 1903, one ,James S. Fuller had made application for 
his wife for land, which land was a portion of the Delaware segregated 
lands, the said Richard C. Adams being the Delaware in possession 
thereof; and in said communication the said Tams Bixby referred to 
section 69 of said Cherokee allotment act, and notified said Richard 
C. Adams to appear and make contest within nine months, as provided 
in said law. Cop}- of said communication is hereto annexed and marked 
"Exhibit 51." 

75. Between September 9 and September 15 letters were wu'itten to 
the Secretary of the Interior protesting against the action of the Com- 
mission in allowing Cherokee to file on lands listed for the Delaware 
Indians and asking to be furnished with the names of persons who 
had made applications for Delaware segregated lands, with all partic- 
ulars in connection thereto; and stating that great wrongs were being- 
perpetrated upon the Delawares because they were not protected in 
their treaty rights, and because the Dawes Commission, after the issue 
of the restraining order, "continued to receive selections and applica- 
tions for allotments" upon Delaware segregated lands. 

These connnunications were answered or considered subsequently in 
the month of October, 1903, and will be referred to in due order. 

76. On or al>out Septml)er 28, 1903, an opinion was rendered by the 
supreme court of the District of Columbia with reference to the con- 
tinuance of the restraininp" order in said suit brouyht bv the Delaware 



MEMORIAL OF THP: DELAWARE INDIANS. 19 

Indians against Secretan" Hitchcock and the Dawes Commission. Said 
opinion was rendered by Mr. Justice Anderson after eonsiderino- all 
the tacts very fully as set forth in the pleadiniis and exhibits which 
have been cited above. The court held that any segregation of lands 
made l)v the Dawes Commission nuist hnvo the appro\al of the !Sei-rt'- 
tary of the Interior and that said Secretary, as a matter of fact, did 
not approve said segregation, and hence the court dissohed the i-esti'ain- 
ing order. The court, however, distinctly held that, inasmuch as there 
had not been any segregation pursuant to section :^8 of the Cherokee 
allotment nvX and pursuant to the Curtis Act, that all the acts of the 
Dawes Commission in attemjjting to allot Cherokee lands were invalid 
and void, for the reason that the segregation nuist precetle the allot- 
ment of lands in the Cherokee Nation. 

The court also held that the Secretary, if he had .segregated the land 
or had approved the segregation, he nevertheless, as an othcer of the 
Government, had the power to revise or correct it. The court also 
held that the Delaware lands, when segregated, must remain apart and 
separate until the suit in the Supreme Court of the United States, 
brought bv the Delawares against the Cherokees, should be decided. 

The ett'ect of this decision is to invalidate not only all applications 
for Delaware lands, but also all applications made by Cherokees for 
other lands in the Cherokee Nation. Copy of this decision is hereto 
annexed and marked ''Exhibit 52.'" 

77. On the same day. September 28. lf>OP». and Ixd'ore the riMidition 
of said decision of Judge Anderson, the said Delawares. pursuant to 
authority granted in said Cherokee allotment act, section 08. com- 
menced a suit in the Court of Claims, which is now pending (No. 
24067) against the United States, for damages because of the failure 
of the United States to protect said Delawares under the stipulations 
and guarantees made by the United States in various treaties, and in 
said suit said Delawares specitically set forth the wrongful acts of the 
^laid Dawes Commission, which have been detaih^d at)OA-e. and also 
wrongful acts on the part of individual membc^rs of said Commission, 
in that several of said members of said Connnission had become inter- 
ested in various land and trust companies and corporations in the 
Indian Territory, for the purpose of dealing in Indian lands and leases. 

78. Shortly after said decision of Mr. Justice Anderson in said suit 
in the supreme court of the District of Columbia, and notwithstanding 
the fact that he had specitically found that the acts of the Dawes Com- 
mission in attempting to allot Cherokee lands prior to any segregation 
were wholly void and illegal, the said Dawes Commission made a pul)lic 
proclamation, which was circulated and posted throughout the Indian 
Territory, stating that Cherokee citizens not of Delaware blood occu- 
pying lands in the Delaware segregation would be permitted to make 
applications for the same, and that c(nitests might l)e instituted in 
regard to the same, provided that such applications and contests should 
be suspended until the rights of the claimants should be determined, 
as provided in said Cherokee allotment act. A copy of said proclama- 
tion is hereto annexed and marked "Exhibit 53." 

79. On October 6. r.»08. the attorn(\v for the Delawares wrote to 
said Dawes Connnission. sending a co]\v of his letter to the Secretary 
of the Interior, and stating that he had been advised that the Secivtary 
had instructed the Dawes Connnission to report as to what lands should 
be omitted from the Delaware segregation and what should be included. 



20 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

and requesting to be allowed to answer with respect to each particular 
tract in dispute. On the same day the supreme court of the District 
of Columlaia entered its order dissolving- the temporary injunction 
theretofore granted by Mr. Justice Anderson. A copy of said order 
is hereunto annexed and marked '"Exhibit 54." 

80. On October 6, 1903, the Secretary wrote the Dawes Conmiission 
stating that the segregation of Delaware lands had not been approved, 
instructing the Commission not to allot an}' Cherokee lands until there 
had been a segregation, and that after the segregation there should 
not be an}^ tilings allowed or applications for segregated lands. The 
Commission was instructed to ascertain what lands should be added to 
or taken from the lists theretofore tiled. The Secretary' directed that 
all Cherokee allotments should be suspended. Copy of this letter is 
hereto annexed and marked '' Exhibit 55." 

81. On October T, 1908, the Dawes Commission made its report 
upon said letter, dated September 14, 1903, previously mentioned, 
which objected to the wrongs perpetrated upon the Delawares because 
the Dawes Commission continued to receive selections. Said Commis- 
sion in its report denied such allegations, and referred to its report of 
October 2, 1903, in which report said Commission stated that — 

a mistake was made in checking over lands embraced in Delaware segregation when 
certain applications were made, and through a mistake was signed and sent out. If 
there has been any other notice except the one sent to Mr. R. C. Adams himself, 
the Commission at this time is not aware, and certainly no attem^jt was made to 
avoid the restraining order referred to by Mr. Adams in his letter, and no inten- 
tional violation was made of it by the Commission, ■ as strict orders were given 
immediately upon notice that sucli restraining order had been issued that no action 
whatever should be taken by the land office regarding lands embraced within the 
Delaw^are segregation. 

82. On October 9, 1903, a letter was written to the Secretary in 
regard to the claims of the Delawares, requesting fair treatment from 
the Dawes Commission, requesting permission for the attorneys to 
appear before that Commission when it proposed to tinalh' determine 
what lands shall be included in the Delaware segregating, and request- 
ing that a complete record be made. 

83. On October 9, 1903, the Secretar}^ wrote conceding such right, 
but stated that segregation should not be delayed on account of the 
absence of parties or attorneys. A copy of this letter is hereto 
annexed and marked "Exhibit 50." 

84. On October 10. 1903, the Indian Office made a report in regard 
to the report of said Dawes Conmiission. dated October 2, 1903, which 
report will be referred to hereafter. 

85. On October 12, 1903, a letter was written to the Dawes Com- 
mission, asking for a complete record of each case in which Cherokee 
have applied for land in the Delaware segregation. 

86. On October 12, 1903, the Dawes Commission, in reply, stated 
that they had not yet been instructed by the Secretar}' on this subject. 
A copv of this communication is hereto annexed and marked 
"Exhibits?." 

87. On October 15, 1903, the Secretary of the Interior Avrote in reply 
to the letter of October 9, 1903, above referred to, which requested 
fair treatment from the Dawes Commission and requested permission 
to appear, stating in substance what was stated in his previous letter 
of October 9, 1903, namely, that Mr. Adams could appear, but that the 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 21 

Commission should not be delayed on account of the a])sence of parties 
or attorneys. A copy of this communication is hereto annexed and 
marked ••Exhil)it 58." 

88. On October 17, 1903. the Secretary wrote relative to the letter 
of September 1>. ItMio. protestino- against the action of the Dawes Com- 
mission in allowino- tilino-s on Delaware lands, which letter was referred 
to the Dawes Conunission Sei)tember 111. 1908. and upon whieh said 
Commission reported October 2. 1903, This report was conununieated 
to the Secretary by the Indian Otiice on October 1(». 19(i3. 

The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in said report of October 10, 
1903, quotes from the Department's letter of October 0, 1903, to the 
Dawes Commission, directing- it to proceed to examine and report the 
lists of tracts of land which should be segreg-ated for the Delawares. 
The Secretary quotes from the report of the Conuuissioner of Indian 
A flairs, which states that complaints can be investigated and that lands 
in the possession of Delawares should he included in the segregation. 
A copy of this connnunication of October 17, 1903, is hereto annexed 
and marked ''Exhibit 59." 

89. On October 21, 1903, the Dawes Commission wrote to Mi". Adams 
in reply to his letter of September 8, 1903, in which he asked to be fur- 
nished with the names of persons who have applied for lands embraced 
in the Delaware segregation. Said Commission claim that this informa- 
tion had ])een furnished, although this was a mistake at the time of the 
date of said letter. A copy of the letter of October 21. 1!K)3, is hereto 
ann(>xed and marked ''Exhibit 60." 

Again on October 21, 1903, the Secretary wrote with reference to 
the letter of September 14, 1903, which stated that great wrongs were 
being perpetrated upon the Delawares, especially because applications 
for allotments upon the segregated lands were received after the 
issuance of the restraining order, and said Secretarj' also referred to 
the report of the' Dawes Ccnnmission, dated October 7, 1903, above 
mentioned. 

The Secretary stated that the Dawes Commission denies the claim 
made in said letter, and refers to its report of October 2, 19<>3. above 
mentioned, which states that a mistake had been made in sending a 
notice of contest to Mr. Adams. And. in view of the instructions 
given to the Dawes Commission by said letter of October 0, 19<i3. the 
Secretary states that no further coumient is necessary upon the report 
of the Commission. A copy of said communication of October 21, 
1903, is hereto annexed and marked "Exhibit 61." 

90. On October 22, 1903. a letter was written to the Dawes Com- 
mission stating- that many letters had been received from Delawares to 
the effect that their homes and interests were being je()]>ardized and 
thi-eatened by the claims of Cherokee to segregated lands and l)v rea- 
son of the hling of Cherokee applications therefor and the issuing of 
papers by the Commission in recognition of such rights, and stating 
that the Cherokee in many instances threatened the Delawares with 
(ejectment. The letter also reipiested advice as to whether the Com- 
mission has at any time recognized the right of selection of any of the 
segregated lands, and if not, what was the nature of the c-laim which 
Cherokee tiled with the Conmiission in regard to said lands. It also 
asks for copies of such papers as are tiled l)y such claimants. This 
letter is replied to on November II. 1903, and will be referred to 
hereafter. 



22 MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

91. In view of the pendency of 8aid suit broug-ht by the Delawares 
against Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Secretary of the Interior, and the 
Dawes Commission, and the necessity of preparing evidence for the 
trial, notice of taking testimon}" was given on or about October 28, 
1903. Copv of said notice is hereto annexed and marked "Exhibit 
62." Pursuant to said notice and on the 23d and 24th of October. 
1903, the testimony of the said Tams Bixlw, acting chairman of the 
said Dawes Commission, was duly taken in said case in the city of 
Washington, D. C. A copy of the said testimony is hereto annexed 
and marked ''Exhibit 63." 

92. A summary of the testimonv of said Bixby, given on said hear- 
ing, is as follows: 

Mr. Bixby stated that the Cherokee lands had been surveyed at the 
date of the passage of the Curtis Act, but that the segregation of the 
Delaware lands was first acted upon after the passage of the Cherokee 
allotment act; that the resolution of December 17, 1903, was the first 
formal step taken by the Dawes Commission to segregate such lands; 
that said lands were segregated pursuant to this resolution by mark- 
ing the selected sections upon a map in red ink, and that this map 
was marked according to the stipulation which had been tiled in the 
Court of Claims, and a copy of Avhich had heon handed to the Dawes 
Commission. 

He stated that the Commission also had another map in its posses- 
sion showing the Delaware lands, which had been in the hands of the 
Commission for some time previously: that no adverse claim was made 
when the lands were segregated in December, 1902; that thereafter, 
in January, a correction of some GO acres was made in the descrip- 
tion, and that after this the Commission treated the lands as having- 
been dulv segregated. 

There are some 300 Cherokees who claim portions of the segregated 
lands, and there are some 12 or more Delawares who claim that their 
lands are not included in the segregation. 

In allotting lands in the Cherokee Nation each Cherokee gets from 
60 to 60O acres, depending upon the value of the lands selected. No 
roll of the Delawares has been prepared. The Cherokee allotments 
began at Vinita January -1, 1903. pur.>^uant to the pul>lic notice. The 
method of allotment in the Vinita office is that each Cherokee is cred- 
ited with $32.5 worth of land, and can select from 60 to 600 acres, 
depending upon the appraised value of the lands. The average amount 
for each Cherokee, excluding the segregated lands, is 110 acres. 

Up to May, 1903, 4,000 Cherokees applied at Vinita, and up to the 
time of giving testimony some 8,000. 

The Dawes Commission mailed certificates of allotment to Cherokees 
without approval by the Secretary of the Interior. Five thousand 
certificates are outstanding. Deeds will be given later which will be 
approN ed by the Secretary. 

On January 1, 1903, Mr. Bix])y knew of the pendency of the Dela- 
ware-Cherokee suit, and the allotments were made to Cherokee upon 
the theory that the segregation had l)een made. The Secretary made 
no objection to allotting the lands and the Commission thought it had 
power to segregate. 

There has been no change in the segregation since -buuiarv. 1903. 
Cherokee applications foi- Delaware lands have been held up. t)ut Dela- 
wares have been notified to api)ear and contest within nine months. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 23 

The filing of applications was stopped about the middle of July. l!»08. 
and then began again for a few days after the decision of Judge 
Anderson, and then were stopped again by reason of the order of the 
Secretary. The public notice, which has been referred to and is marked 
" Exhibit 53," was given shortly after the decision of Judge Anderson. 

In all 10.000 or 12.000 Cherokee applications have been received, 
based upon the theory of the segregation. There is enough land in the 
Cherokee Nation to give each Cherokee 110 acres and also give 157, (!00 
acres to the Delawares. 

He admits that l)y the issue of certificates to lo,o00 or 12.000 Chero- 
kee the opportunity of a Delawart' to select land outside of the segre- 
gated land is much lessened. He states that the segregated land is 
more valuable as agricultural lands than the lands which now remain 
open for selection outside the segregated lands, unless the question of 
minerals is considered; that the lands were not valued for the miner- 
als, and mineral lands are appraised at small values. 

There has l)een no land set apart of the segregation for any particu- 
lar Delaware, but some Delawares may have applied foi- lands outside 
of the segregation. 

93. On or about October 25, 1903, pursuant to requests from time 
to time made to it, the Dawes Commission prepared and handed to the 
attorneys for the Delawares a list of the names of persons who have 
applied for lands in the Cherokee Nation included within the Delaware 
segregation, the Dawes Commission stating that in all cases the appli- 
cant claimed that he was occup3'ing the land api)lied for or had valua- 
ble improvements thereon. A copy of this list is hereto annexed and 
marked *' Exhibit (34." 

94. On October 29, 1903, the Secretary wrote to the Dawes Com- 
mission, referring to Department letter of October 6. 1903, which 
directed the Commission to investigate as to what tracts should be 
added to or stricken from the Delaware segregation. 

The Secretary states that it is important that a final list should be 
approved as soon as possible, and the Commission is instructed to 
submit a new list, and the method of doing this is indicated. A copy 
of said communication is hereto annexed and marked "Exhibit 05." 

95. On October 30, 1903, the attorneys for the Delawares received 
from the Secretary said Department letter of October 29, 19t>3. 
(Exhibit 65.) A copy of this comnnuiication is hereto annexed and 
marked ""Exhibit 06." 

96. On November 11, 1903, Mr. Tams Bixby. ehairman of the 
Dawes Commission, wrote in reply to letter of October 22, 1903, 
which referred to numei-ous letters from Delaware Indians complain- 
ing about the action of the Cherokee, and in which requests were 
made for information as to the proceedings of the Conunission con- 
cerning the segregated lands and copies of any documents or papers 
issued by the Commission when Cherokee applied for Delaware lands. 

Mr. Bixl)y states that when Cherokee apply for Delaware lands 
their testimony is taken, but the a})plication is not a regular oiu^ and 
action is suspended. A blank form of notice issued in such matters is 
inclosed, but all such matters are held up. A copy of said couuuuni- 
cation of November 11, 1903, is hereto annexed and marked "' Exhil)it 
67," and a copy of said notice inclosed therewith is hereto annexed and 
marked " Exhibit QS.'^ 

On the same day, November 11, 1903, the said Tarns r>i\l)y wrote 



24 MEMORIAL OF THY. DP^LAWARE INDIANS. 

acknowlodgino- receipt of the letter of Octol)er 12, 1903. Mr. Bixby 
■stated that such copy had already- been furnished. A cop}' of this 
communication is hereto annexed and marked '* Exhibit 09."" 

97. The foregoing- are the facts concerning- the rights of the Dela- 
wares to said 157,600 aci-es of land and the action of the Government 
in respect thereto, both in the legislative, executive, and judicial 
departments. 

Further facts in regard to said matters generally are as follows: 

98. In the year 1897, and at times when the opinions of the Interior 
Department were favorable to the claims of the Delawares, the said 
Cherokees employed numerous attorneys and agents, who came to the 
city of A\'ashington and who took vigorous steps to oppose the Dela- 
wares in their claims for said lands. Furthermore, in the fall or wdnter 
of 1897 the Cherokee legislature passed various appropriation acts 
for the purpose of paying attorney's and other agents to oppose the 
claims of the Delawares and for the expenses of delegations to go to 
the city of Washington for such purposes. At such times the Dela- 
wares being- all Cherokee citizens had an undivided interest in these 
moneys so appropriated, and yet notwithstanding this the moneys, a 
share of which they owned, were used by the Cherokee for the purpose 
of defeating- the Delawares in their vested rights to these lands. 

*.>9. At said times the Delawares were unable to raise or procure any 
amount of funds except by private donations by individual Delawares, 
and thus said Delawares were at a great disadvantage, all of which is 
well known to the Cherokee. 

100. As stated, the said Delawares have repeatedly requested the 
Interior Department to segregate said lands, and have complied with 
all recommendations of the Dawes Commission touching- the tiling or 
correcting of schedules showing said segr.egated lands, and the said 
Delawares fully believed that said segregation had been approved by, 
the [Secretary of the Interior, and verily believed that under said 
Cherokee allotment act the approval of the said Secretarv Avas not 
necessary. 

101. However, inasmuch as said Secretary has repudiated said sched- 
ule, the whole matter of the rights of the Delawares and the Cherokees 
is at present in the greatest confusion. As already stated, there are 
from 10.000 to 12,000 applications made by Cherokees for Cherokee 
land, and 5,000 or more certiticates therefor have been issued. All of 
these applications and certiticates seem to be invalid 1)ecause of the 
fact that the court has held that no segregation has been made. Further- 
more, there are 300 or more applications made by Cherokees for Dela- 
ware lands within said segregation. These, although held up or 
suspended, are on file in the Cherokee land office. jVIeanwhile, whether 
said land is segregated or not, individual Delawares have ])een unable 
to hie even upon the lands which they occupy by reason of the pro- 
visions of the statute, nor have they ))een able to file U])oii the remain- 
ing lands of the Cherokee Nation IxH-ause of the situation of affairs as 
stated. If the supreme court shall hold that the court below was right, 
then the ([uestion arises of how can the Delawares be protected if the 
best of the outlying lands are already occupied or applied for by 
Cherokees, and there are also applications pending by some of them 
for the lands within the segregation? 

102. As shown in the foregoing papers and exhibits, the Delawares 
have protested in every possible way, both to the DepartmtMits and to 



MEM(1RTAL OF THE DEL AWAKE INDIANS. 25 

the courts, and altl!oiitj;h in tho suit in thr Suprrnio Court on apix'til 
the parties are the Dehiwares at;ain.>t the Chei-oket>s. and the I'liited 
States is not a party, yet, nev(>rth(-»Iess. the said Dawes Connnission 
and the Interior Department have taken the position tliat the (juestion 
of the particular lands to he adjudged to the Delawares is a question 
for the Interior Departnient. and that the only thing the Supreme 
Court has to do is to pass generally upon the rights of the Delawaivs. 
and that if any stipulation has been iiled in said suit, it would not l>e 
binding upon the Interior Department. The said Dawes Commission 
has furthermore suggested that these matters be l)rought to the atten- 
tion of the Supreme Court to pre\eiit the possibility of that court 
approving the schedult^ tiled in said cause. Said Delawares believe 
that such action on the ]);u't of the Dawes Commission is improper, as 
suggesting an intervention in a suit to which the Govei'nment is not a 
party. 

103. During the summer of 1903 the President of the I'^nited States 
ordered an investigation to lie made of the proceedings of the Dawes 
Conunission and other otticials in the Indian Tei'ritory. and such inves- 
tigation is still in progress. 

In4. Hereto annexed and marked "F^xhibit 70" is a history of the 
Delaware Indians, which has been prepared for the purpose of show- 
ing their loyalty to the United States; the treaty obligations of the 
United States to such Delaw^ares; the breach of such ol (ligations on 
the part of the United States, and the manner in which the Delawares 
have been wronged, not only in the past, but during the times con- 
cerning which this memorial specitically treats. 

Your memorialists, therefoi-e. respectfully ask that they be gi^■(Ml by 
the Congress of the United States such relief in the premises as it may 
appear they are entitled to. 

The Delawaije Indians Residin(. in the Cherokee Nation. 

By Richard C. Adams, 

Attoi'ihij-t n-Jui.cf . 



INDEX m EXHIBITS. 



Ex- 
hibit. 



Date. 



Page. 



Delaware-Cheroliee agreement 

Memorial entitled ''What the Delawarcs want," and memorandum of title. 

Letter from Indian Office to Secretary of Interior 

Letter from tlu' Secretary of Interior to cliairman of Dawe.s Commission . 
Letter from Acting Secretary of Interior to Messrs. Adams and Bullette. . 

Letter from Adams and Bullette to Secretary of Interior 

Aftidavit of S. H. Benge 

Affidavit of William Adams 

Affidavit of ,Iohn G. Pratt 

Letter from H. L. Dawes, chairman of Dawes Commission, to Secretary of 

Interior 

Contract between Delaware busine.ss committee and Adams and Bullette. 

Act of Delaware council 

Resohitions of the Delaware council 

Letter from Acting Secretary of Interior to acting chairman of Dawes 

Commission 

Letter from Indian Office to Secretary of Interior 

Letter from Acting Secretary of Interior to acting chairman of Dawes 

Commission 

Letter from Ricliard C. Adams to Secretary of Interior 

Letter from Dawes Commission to Secretary of Interior 

Letter from Indian ( iffice to Secretary of Interior 

Letter from Ac'tiiig Secretary of Interior to Dawes Commission 

Letter from Acting Secretary of Interior to Richard C. Adams 

Proclamation of Dawes Commission establishing Cherokee land office... 
Letter from acting chan-man of Dawes Commis.sion to Richard C.Adams, 
do 



Apr. 
May 
May 
May 
May 
.lurie 
.Tune 
June 
June 



8, 1867 

— , 1897 

4,1897 

7, 1897 

8, 1897 

23, 1897 

10, 1897 

12, 1897 

14, 1897 



Ke.solution of Delaware council 

Additional resolutions of Delaware council 

Report of Dawes Commission to Secretary of Interior , 

Report of Indian Office to Secrctiiry of Interior 

Letter from Acting Secretary of Interior to Walter S. Logan 

Letter from chairman of Dawes Commission to Walter S. Logan 

Letter from acting chairman of Dawes Commission to Walter S. Logan 

and William T. Hutcliings 

Letter from Ricliar<l ('. .Vdams to acting chairman of Dawes Commission. 

Repor Ifrom Dawes ( 'oinmi.'^sion to Secretary of Interior 

Letter from Indian Office to Acting Secretary of Interior , 

Letter from Acting Secretary of Interior to Dawes Commission 

Report of Dawes Commission to Secretary of Interior , 

Letter from Indian Office to Secretary of Interior 

Report of Dawes Commission to Secretary of Interior , 

Report of Indian Office to Secretary of Interior 

do 



Report of Dawes Commission to Secretary of Interior 

Plat of township No. '2t>. range 19 .' 

Letter from Dawes Commission to John H. Secondine 

Letter from Indian Office to Secretary of Interior 

Letter from Acting Secretary of Interior to Indian Office 

Answer of defendant, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, as Secretary of Interior, 

to bill of complaint in injunction suit 

Amended complaint in injunction suit 

Answer of defendant to amended bill of complaint in injunction suit ... 

Affidavit of Hitchcock in injunction suit ' 

Affidavit of Bixby in injtmction s\ht 

Letter from Dawes Commission to Richard C. .\dams 

Decision of .lust ice .\ndcrson in injiuicticju suit 

Proclamation of Dawes Commission 

Order dissolving temporiiry injunction 

Letter from the Acting Secretary of Intcritir to Dawes Commission 

Letter from the Acting Secretary ni Interior to Richard C. .\dains 

Letter from the commissioner in charge of Cherokee land office to 

Richard C, Adams 

Letter from the Acting Secretary of Interior to Richard C. Adams 

do : 



Julv 1.5,1897 
Aug. 4, 1898 
Julv 29,1898 
Oct. 11,1898 

Nov. 4, 1899 
Nov. 20,1899 

Nov. 22,1899 
Feb. 27,1901 
Mar. 23,1901 
Apr. 3, 1901 
Apr. 8. 1901 

do 

Sept. 25, 1902 
Sept. 27, 1902 
Oct. 8, 1902 
Oct. 15,1902 

... .do 

Oct. 20,1902 
Nov. 22,1902 
Nov. 29,1902 
Jan. 5, 1903 



do 

Jan. 1.5,1903 
Mar. 17,1903 
Mar. 27,1903 
Mar. 30,1903 
Apr. 10,1903 
Apr. 30,1903 
Apr. 20,1903 
Apr. 28,1903 
Apr. 30,1903 
Mav 16,1903 



May 20,1903 
June 4,1903 
June 6,1903 

June 19, 1903 
June 23, 1903 



June 13, 1903 
Aug. 31, 1903 



Oct. 
Oct. 



6, 1903 
9, 1903 



Letter from commissioner in charge of Cherokee land office to Richard 
C. Adams 

Letter from .Acting Secretary to Richard C. Adams 

Notice of taking of testimony in injunction stiit 

Testimony of Tajiis Hixl)y in injunclion case 

List of persons wlio have aiiplied for land included in the Delaware- 
segregation 

Letter from tlie Secretary of Interior to the Dawes Commission 

Letter from .\cting Secretary of Interior to Richard C. Adam.s 

Letter from Dawes Commission to Richard C. Adams 

Form of notice from Dawes ('ommission 

Letter from Dawes Connni.ssion to Richard C. Adams 

Brief history of the Delaware Indians by Richard C. Adams 



Oct. 12,1903 
Oct. 1.5,1903 
Oct. 17,1903 

Oct. 21,1903 
do 

Oct'.' "23,1963' 



Oct. 29,1903 
Oct. 30,1903 
N6v. 11.1903 

"NovVii.'igos' 



26 



KxniiuT 1. 

Articlc-'f of agreement made this Stii dai/ of April, .1. I). 1867, hetireen. the Clierohee Xation. 
represented lii/ William P. Ross, jyrincipal ehief, liilei/ Kei/es and Jesse Bushnhead, dele- 
gates dahj authorized, parties of the Jirst part, and the Delaware tribe of Indians, repre- 
sented by John Connor, p>rincipal chief; Charles Jonrnei/cake, assistant chief; Isaac 
Journei/cake and John Sarco.vie, delegates for and on belialf of said Delaware tribe, dvhj 
(ndhorized, witnesseth: 

Whereas by the fifteenth article ui a certain ti'eaty between the United Staten and 
the Cherokee Nation, ratified Au^nyt 11, 1866, certain terms were provided, nnder 
which frientUy Indians might be settlecl upon unoccupied hinds in tlie Cherokee 
counti'v east of the hne of the ninety-sixth degree of west lonyitnde, th<> price to be 
paid for such lands to he agreed on by the Inchans to be tlnis located and the Chero- 
kee Nation, subject to the approval of the President of the United States; and whereas 
by a treaty between tlie United States and the Delaware tribe of Indians, ratified August 
10, 1866, the removal of the said Delawares to the Indian country south of Kansas 
was provided for; and, in the fcjurth article whereof, an agreement was made by the 
United States to sell to the Delawares a tract of land, being part of a tract the 
cession of which by the Cherokees to the United States was then contemplated; and 
w^hereas no such cession of land was made by the Cherokees to the United States, 
but, in lieu thereof, terms were provided, as hereinbefore mentioned, under which 
friendly Indians might be settled upon their lands; and whereas a full and free con- 
ference has been had between the representatives of the Cherokees and the Dela- 
wares, in view of the treaties herein referred to, looking to a location of the Delawares 
upon the Cherokee lands, and their consolidation with said Cherokee Nation: 

Now, therefore, it is agreed between the parties hereto, subject to the ajtj^roval of 
the President of the United States, as follows: 

The Cherokees, parties of the first part, for and in consideration of certain pay- 
ments, and the fulfillment of certain conditions hereinaftei' mentioned, agree to sell 
to the Delawares, for their occupancy, a quantity of land east of the line of the 
ninety-sixth degree west longitude, in the aggregate equal to 160 acres for each indi- 
vidual of the Delaware tribe who has been enrolled upon a certain register made 
February 18, 1867, l)y the Delaware agent, and on file in the othce of Indian Affairs, 
being the list of Delawares who elect to remove to the "Indian countr\-," to which 
list may be added, only with the consent of the Delaware council, the names of such 
other Delawares as may, within one month after the signing of this agreement, desire 
to be added thereto, and the selections of the lands to be purchased by the Delawares 
may be made by said Delawares in any part of the Cherokee Reservation east of said 
line of ninety-sixth degree, not already selected and in jiossession of other ])arties, 
and in case the Cherokee lands shall hereafter be allotted among the members of 
said nation it is agreed that the aggregate amount of land herein provided for the 
Delawares, to include their improvements according to the legal subdivisions when 
surveys are made — that is to say, 160 acres for each individual — shall be guaranteed 
to each Delaware incorporated by these articles into the Cherokee Nation, nor shall 
the continued ownershij) and occupancy of said land by any Delaware so registered 
be interfered with, in any manner whatever, without his consent, but shall be sul)ject 
to the same conditions and restrictions as are by the laws of the Cherokee Nation 
imposed upon native citizens thereof. 

Provided that notliing herein shall confer the right to alienate, convey, or disjuise 
of any such lands, except in accordance with the constitution and laws of said Chero- 
kee Nation. 

And the said Delawares, parties of the second ]>art, agree that there shall be paid 
to the said Cherokees, from the Delaware funds now held or hereafter received by 
the United States, a sum of money e(]ual to $1 per acre for the whole amount of KiO 
acres of land for every individnl Delaware who has already l>een registeretl upon 
the aforesaid list, made February 18, 18(57, with the additions thereto heretofore 
provided for. 



2S MEMORIAL OF THK DELAWARE INDIANS. 

And the Secretary of the Interior i« authorized and requested to sell any United 
States stocks belonging to the Delawares to procure funds necessary to pay for said 
lands; but in case he shall not feel authorized, under existing treaties, to sell such 
bonds belonging to the Delawares, it is agreed that he may transfer such United 
States bonds to the Cherokee Nation, at their market value, at the date of such 
transfer. 

And the said Delawares further agree that there shall be paid from their funds 
now or hereafter to come into possession of the United States a sum of money which 
shall sustain the same proportion to the existing Cherokee national fund that the 
number of Delawares registered as above mentioned and removing to the Indian 
country sustains to the whole number of Cherokees residing in the (Jherokee Nation. 
And for the purpose of ascertaining such relative numbers, the registers of the Dela- 
M'ares herein referred to, with such additions as may he made within one month 
from the signing of this agreement, shall be the basis of calculation as to the Dela- 
wares, and an accurate census of the Cherokees residing in the Cherokee Nation shall 
be taken under the laws of that natiijn within four months, and properly certified 
copies thereof filed in the office of Indian Affairs, which shall be the basis of calcu- 
lation as to the Cherokees. 

And that there may be no doubt hereafter as to the amount to be contributed to 
the Cherokee national fund by the Delawares, it is hereby agreed by the parties 
hereto that the whole amount of the invested funds of the Cherokees, after deducting 
all just claims thereon, is $678,000. 

And the Delawares further agree, that in calculating the total amount of said 
national fund there shall be added to the said sum of $67S,000 the sum of §1,000,000, 
being the estimated value of the Cherokee neutral lands in Kansas, thus making the 
whole Cherokee niitional fund $1,678,000; and this last-mentioned sum shall betaken 
as the basis for calculating the amount which the Delawares are to pay into the 
common fund. 

Provided, that as the $678,000 of funds now on hand belonging to the Cherokees is 
chiefly composed of stocks of different values, the Secretary of the Interior may trans- 
fer from the Delawares to the Cherokees a proper proportion of the stocks now owned 
by the Delawares of like grade and value, which transfer shall l)e in part of the pro 
rata contribution herein provided for by the Delawares to the funds of the Cherokee 
Nation; but the balance of the pro rata contribution l)y the Delawares to said fund 
shall be in cash or United States bonds at their market value. 

All cash, and all proceeds of stocks, whenever the same may fall due or be sold, 
received by the Cherokees from the Delawares under the agreement, shall be invested 
and applied in accordance with the 23d article of the treaty with the Cherokees, of 
August 11, 1866. 

C)n the fulfillment by the Delawares of the foregoing stipulations, all the members 
of the tribe registered as above provided shall become members of the Cherokee 
Nation, with the same rights and immunities, and the same participation (and no 
other) in the national funds, as native Cherokees, save as hereinbefore provided. 

And the children hereafter born of such Delawares so incorporated into the Chero- 
kee Nation shall in all respects be regarded as native Cherokees. 

Will P. Ross, 

Principal Chief. 
KiLEV Keves, 

CJierokce Dr/cgatiou. 
John (his x mark) Coxxor, 

Principal Chief. 
Charles Joirxevcake. 
Isaac Jouhxevcake. 
JoHX (his X mark-) Sarco.xie, 

JJela irare Delegation. 

Executed and delivered in our ))ossession by the above-named delegates of the 
Cherokee and Delaware nations, at the city of VVashington, in the District of Coluni- 
l)ia, the day and year first above written. 

Jonx G. PKA'rr. 

W. A. Phillips. 

Edward S. ^Iexa(jeth. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS?. 29 

Dei'artmkxt ok the Intekiok, 

April 11, WJ7. 
The within agreement between the Cherokee and Delaware tribes of Indians, con- 
chided on the Sth instant, and providing for uniting the two tribes as contemplated 
by the Cherokee treaty of July 19, l.st)(), is respectfully submitted to the President, 
with the recommendation that it be approved. 

O. H. ])]{OWXIXG, 

Sccrrtan/. 



Approved April 11. 1867. 



Andkew Johnson. 



Kxnimr 2. 

MetiiorantJum — 117/a? tlir Drlairares want. 

First. The Dawes Commission instructed in negotiating with the Cherokee Nation 
to exclude from such negotiation the 157,600 acres bought by the registered Dela- 
wares, or at least to negotiate with the Cherokee Nation no further i-elative to the 
land bought and paid for by the Delaware? than to segregate the same to the Dela- 
wares as proposecl by the Cherokee agreement with the Delawares of April 8, 1867, 
and article 4 of July 26, 1866, Delaware treaty, the reasons for the above request are 
to wit: 

1. The Cherokee Nation sold such land to the registered Delawares April 8, 1867, 
and the registered Delawares then and there bought and paid for such land, and this 
land has not been Vjut should be segregated to the registered Delawares, now that the 
survey of such country makes segregation for the first time practicable. (Memo- 
randum of title attached. ) 

2. The Cherokee Nation having sold such land and received the money therefor, 
should not now control or interfere with the same regardless of the wishes of the 
purchasers to whom the Cherokee Nation guaranteed that "continued ownership and 
occupancy of said land l)y any Delaware .>^o registered" shall not " be interfered with 
in anv manner whatever without his consent." (Cherokee Nation's agreement witii 
Delawares, April 8, 1867. ) 

3. The Delawares paid a larger price for this land than any other land then being 
sold to Indians; e.g., the Cherokee sold the Osages land adjacent on the west for 70 
cents an acre; the Creek sold their land for Indian occupancy about this time for 
30 cents an acre, and the Seminoles for 15 cents an acre. Indeed, the Delawares paid 
the same rate for the land they bought of the Cherokee that the Cherokee at that 
time conveyed the neutral lands in fee simple; to wit, 800,000 acres in Kansas for$l 
per acre. 

3. The Delawares ask this instruction because they have been alarmeil l)y the 
gross mismanagement of the Cherokee Nation. 

For example: The Cherokee Nation persistently refused for many years to recog- 
nize the rights of the Delawares which they acquired l)y their agreement of 1867. 
Over the veto of their chief they refused the Delawares their rights, and the 
Shawnee and Freedmen as well (1883), and continued to deny them until Congress 
and the United States Supreme Court intervened and compelled them to do ju.^tice. 
(See Cherokee Nation against Delaware Indians, U. S. Supieme Court, Nov. 19, 1894.) 
Very recently, the Cherokee Nation has run up an unjustifiable indebtedness of over 
§500,000, and indulged other misconduct which dee])ly affects the interests of the 
Delawares and which would well justify executive and judicial incpiiry; e.g., on 
the plea of reducing the number of freedmen as listed on the so-called A\'allace roll, 
a roll made ex parte and known to be fraudulent to the extent of over a thousand 
names, the Cherokee ollicials agreed tf) pay 8400,000 of the Cherokee fund, Init, 
instead of diminishing .said Wallace roll, a much larger numl)er of fraudulent names 
were ])ermitted to Ije put upon a new freedmen roll tiian the entire lunnber of the 
Delaware tribe, thus injuring and diminishing wrongfully the pro rata share of the 
Delawares to the Cherokee trilial fumls. (See pp. 472, 473, 474, ^lessage and Docu- 
ments, Int. Dept.,,vol. 2, 1896, 1897; and reports in Indian Otticeon freedmen roll.) 

4. The Delawares further desire this instruction because of the grossly unjust sug- 
gestion made in some quarters that the Delawares should not be allowed KiO acres of 
land eacli, as guaranteed them by the Cherokee Nation, but that they should be 
allowed only the amount of land due other Cherokee citizens, which will be frac- 
tionally le.«s land. (See Memorandum of title attached.) 



3() MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

JIEMOKAXDUM OF TITLE. 

First. Delaware treaty of July 26, 1866, article 4: 

" The United States agrees to sell to the Delaware Indians a tract of land * * * 
which may be ceded by the Cherokees in the Indian country, to be selected by the 
Delawares * * * to contain in the aggregate * * * a quantity equal to 160 
acres for each mau, woman, and child who shall remove to said country. * * * 
Said tract of country shall be set off with clearly and permanently marked boundaries 
by the United States; and also surveyed as public lands are surveyed, when the Dela- 
wares shall so request, when the same may be in whole or in part allotted by said 
council to each mem))er of said tribe residing in said country, said allotment subject 
to the api^roval of the Secretary of the Interior." 

Second. Cherokee agreement with the Delawares, April 8, 1867: 

"The Cherokees, parties of the first part, for and in consideration of certain pay- 
ments, and the fulfillment of certain conditions hereinafter mentioned, agree to sell 
to the Delawares, for their occupancy, a quantity of land east of the line of the 96tli 
degree, west longitude, in the aggregate equal to 160 acres for each individual of the 
Delaware tribe, who has been enrolled upon a certain register made February 18, 
1867, by the Delaware agent, and on file in the Office of Indian Affairs, to which 
may be added, only with the consent of the Delaware council, the names of such 
other Delawares as may, within one month of the signing of the agreement, desire to 
be added thereto; and the selections of the lands to be purchased l)y the Delawares 
may be made by said Delawares in any part of the Cherokee Keservation east of said 
line of 96 degrees not already selected and in possession of other parties; and in case 
the Cherokee lands shall hereafter be allotted among the members of said nation, it 
is agreed that the aggregate amount of land herein provided for the Delawares, to 
include their improvements according to the legal subdivisions when surveys are 
made — that is to say, 160 acres for each individual — shall be guaranteed to each 
Delaware incorporated by these articles into the Cherokee Nation; nor shall the 
continueil ownership and occupancy of said land by any Delaware so registered be 
interfered with in any manner whatever without his consent." 

Justice Brewer, commenting upon this, says: 

"This contemplates personal selection of separate tracts l)y individual Delawares. 
Further, there is a guarantee 'to each Delaware incorporated by these articles into 
the Cherokee Nation' of the lands thus by him purchased, and that his ownership 
and occupancy shall not be interfered with in any manner without his consent— not 
the consent of the Delaware tribe." 

Cherokee delegation to United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, on June 
19, 1890, states: 

"As has been seen, the Delawares purchased 157,600 acres of Cherokee lands lying 
east of the ninety-sixth degree. That was an absolute and unconditional purchase, 
and in which lands the Cherokee Nation has no title or interest." (See opinion 
Justice Nott, Court of Claims, Apr. 24, 1863, p. 6.) 

Justice Nott says (see same, p. 5) relative to this land: 

" It seems plain to this court that this part of the agreement is for the sale of a 
specific thing for a specific price * * * they took 157,600 acres and paid §157,000. 
The money was the consideration named for the land, and the land was the consid- 
eration named for the money." 

The Supreme Court of the United States (Cherokee Nation and U. S. r. Delaware 
Indians, Nov. 19, 1894), answering the plea of counsel for Cherokees that the con- 
sideration paid by the Delawares was inadequate, says: 

"Commenting generally upon this line of argument, it is rather an endeavor to 
induce the court to reconstruct the contract and frame one more in accord with what, 
from the present standpoint, would seem to have been equitable than to interpret 
the contract which the i)arties made, in accordance with the plain import of the 
language which they used." 

The court further says: 

" And as a further consideration for the i)ayment of this sum for the purchase of 
liomes for the Delawares were guaranteed not merelj' the continued occupancy 
thereof, but also that, in case of subsequent allotment in severalty of the entire body 
of land among the members of the Chcrekee Nation, they should receive an aggre- 
gate amount equal to that which they had purchased, and such a distribution as 
would secure to them the homes upon which they had settled, together with their 
improvements." 

In an oi)inion given by William W. Hastings, ex-attorney-general of the Cherokee 
Nation and present delegate of the Cherokee Nation to Washington, D. C, rendered 
December 2, 1896, he says: 

"With this decision (U. S. Sup. Ct. 155, p. 120) before me, together with the 
agreement dated April 8, 1867, which authorized it, I am of the opinion that in case 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 31 

any registered Delaware goes upon the public domain <>f tlie Cherokee Nation an<l 
selects 160 acres of land, or should he acquire pcaceal)le possession of that amount 
by purchase or otherwise, he would be entitled to that amount, and to that tract of 
his selection when the allotment of the lands of the Cherokee Nation are made 
among the citizens thereof." 

The children of registered Delawares now enrolled as Cherokee citizens and born 
since Delawares removed to the Cherokee Nation occupy the position of other Cher- 
okee citizens, to wiiose interests this memorandum does not relate. 



Exhibit .1 



DeCAKT.MENT 01" THE l.NTKHIOU, 

Office of Indian Affaihs, 

Waxhbuiton, May 4, 1897. 
The Secretary of the Interior. 

Sir: I am in receipt by Department reference, for immediate report, of a memo- 
randum of "What the Delawares want," from which it appears that K. C-. Adams 
and John Bullette, Delaware representatives, ask that the Connnission to the Five 
Civilized Tribes "be instructed in negotiating with the Cherokee Nation to exclude 
from such negotiations the 157,600 acres bought by the registered Delawares, or at 
least to negotiate with the Cherokee Nation no further relative to the land bought 
and paid for by the Delawares than to segregate the same to the Dehiwares, as pro- 
posed by the Cherokee agreement with the Delawares of April S, 1.S67, and article 4 
of July 26, 1866, Delaware treaty." 

Five reasons are assigned why the Commission should be instnu-ted as requested, 
brieflv, as follows, viz: 

1. That the Cherokee Nation sold the quantity of land stated to the registered Dela- 
wares April 8, 1867; 

2. That having so sold the land and received the money for it, the Cherokee Nation 
should not be permitted to control or interfere with it regardless of the wishes of the 
l>un'hasers, the registered Delawares; 

o. That the Delawares paid a larger price for the land than was paid the other 
Indians for lands in the Indian Territory, bought about the same time; 

4. That the Delawares have become alarmed by the gross mismanagement (jf the 
Cherokee Nation; and 

5. That in some quarters the grossly unjust suggestion has been made that the Del- 
awares should not be allowed 160 acres of land each as guaranteed them by the 
Cherokee Nation, but should only be given the amount of land to which other citi- 
zens of the Cherokee Nation will l)e entitled, which will be fractionally less. 

Attached to this request of the Delaware representatives is a statement referred to 
as "Memorandum of title." From the concluding paragraph of this memorandum 
it appears that the claim to 160 acres per capita set up on behalf of the Delawares is 
not intended to include the children of Delawares born since the consummation of tiie 
agreement between the Cherokee Nation and the Delaware tribe, by which 9So of 
the members of the latter became citizens of the said nation, but extends only to the 
right of said 985 Delawares to 160 acres of land when allotments to the citizens of the 
Cherokee Nation come to be made. 

There being no question, therefoi'e, as to the right of the children of the registered 
Delawares, who are admitted to have only such right in the nation as are enjoyed by 
the native Cherokees, it would seem that no elaborate discussion of the question 
raised in the memorandum before me as to the right of the registered Delawares them- 
selves to receive 160 acres each is necessary, since the Sui)reme Court in the Cherokee 
Nation /•. Journevcake (155 U. S., 196), in unequivocal language, decided tiiat they 
have that right. " The court said (p. 213), "and as a further consideration for the 
payment of this sum for tlie purchase of homes the Delawares were guaranteed not 
merelv the contimied occupancy thereof, but also that in case of a subsi"(|uent allot- 
ment "in severalty of the entire" body of lands among the meml)ers of the Ciierokei- 
Nation, they .should receive an aggregate amount ecjual to tliat whii'h they had pur- 
chased, and" such a distrilmtion as would secure to them their homes upon which 
they had settled, together with their improvements. So that if, when the allotment 
was" made, there was for any reason not land enough to secure to eai-h member of the 
Cherokee Nation 160 acres," (/(C Dclaivarcs were to have at least that aniouiil, aii<l tlirdeji- 
e'ienry would have to he home by the native Cherokeex jiro rata. In otlier words, there 
was no purchase of a distinct body of lands, as in the case of the settlement of other 
Indian tribes as tribes within the limits of the Cherokee reservation. The individual 



S2 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Delawares took their homes in and remaining in the Cherokee Reservation, and as 
lands to be considered in any subsequent allotment in severalty among the members 
of the Cherokee Nation." (The italics are mine. ) 

This language of the Supreme Court I regard as conclusive of the question and in 
view of the rights of the Delawares, their request that the Dawes Commission be 
instructed with relation thereto is not unreasonable, and although it would not be 
competent for the United States and the Cherokee Nation in any agreement they 
might enter into, to abrogate the Cherokee-Delaware agreement on the subject, or 
disturb the vested rights of the Delawares under that agreement, without their con- 
sent formally given, much confusion and delay inight be avoided if the Department 
would communicate the true situation to the Commission before any agreement is 
concluded with the Cherokee Nation affecting the su)>ject, and I accordingly so rec- 
ommend, provided you agree with me as to the effect of the decision of the Supreme 
Court above cited on the subject. 

The memorandum from the Delaware representatives is herewith returned. 
Verv respectfullv, vour obedient servant, 

Thos. p. Smith, 
Acting Com missioner. 



Exhibit 4. 



Department of the Interior, 

Washington, May 7, 1897. 
The Chairman, Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Muscogee, Tnd. T. 

Sir: I transmit herewith copy of the memorandum filed by R. C. Adams and John 
Bullette, Delaware representatives, asking that the Commission to the Five Civilized 
Tribes "be instructed, in negotiating with the Cherokee Nation, to exclude from such 
negotiations the 157,600 acres bought by the registered Delawares, or at least to nego- 
tiate with the Cherokee Nation no further relative to the land bought and paid for by 
the Delawares; that to segregate the same to the Delawares as proposed by the Chero- 
kee agreement w'ith the Delawares of April 8, 1867, and article 4 of July 26, 1866, 
Delaware treaty." 

I also transmit copy of a communication of 4th instant from the Commissioner of 
Indian Affairs, to whom the matter was referred. 

The Commissioner refers to the decision of the Sujireme Court (Cherokee Nation 
V. Journeycake, 155 U. S., 196) as conclusive as to the rights of the Delawares, and 
states that their request is not unreasonable, and though it would not be competent 
for the United States and the Cherokee Nation, in any agreement they might enter 
into, to abrogate the Cherokee-Delaware agreement on the subject or disturb the 
vested rights of the Delawares under that agreement without their consent formally 
given, much confusion and delay might be avoided if the Department would com- 
municate the true situation to the Commission before any agreement is concluded 
with the Cherokee Nation affecting the subject. 

Concurring in the views of the Commissioner as to the effect of the decision of the 
Supreme Court above referred to, as to the rights of the Delawares in their purchased 
lands, I am of ojiinion that in negotiating with the Cherokees the Commission should 
be governed by said decision, unless the Delawares formally consent to waive any of 
their vested rights. 

Very respectfully, C. N. Bliss, Secretary. 



Exhibit 5. 



Department op the Interior, 

Washington, May 8, 1897. 
Mr. R. C. Adams, 
^Ir. John Bulleite, 

JJelaivare Indian Represenlatircs, Washington, D. C 
Gentlemen: The Department is in receipt from you of a memorandum of "What 
the Delawares want" and accompanying papers, wherein you ask that the Commis- 
sion to the Five Civilized Tribes " be instructed in negotiating with the Cherokee 
Nation to e.xclude from such negotiations the 157,600 acres bought by the registereti 
Delawares, or at least to negotiate with the Cherokee Nation no further relative to 



MEMORIAL OF THK DELAWARE INDIANS. 33 

the land bought and paid for by the Delawares than to segregate tlie same to the 
Delawaresj, a.« proposed V)y the Cherokee agreement with the Delawares of April 8, 
1867, and article 4 of July L*(>, 186(5, Delaware treaty." 

In response thereto I transmit herewith copy of Department letter of 7th -instant 
to the Chairman, Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, and also coi)y t>f Indian 
OflBce report of 4th instant in relation to this matter. 
I also inclose copies of the jjapers filed by you. 
Very respectfully, 

Thos. Kvan, AcHikj Si<-iciari/. 



Exhibit 6. 

WAi^uiSGTo:^, T>. C, Jane 23, 1S97. ■ 
The Secretary of the Interior. 

Sir: We the undersigned and duly authorized representatives of the Delaware tril)e 
of Indians, residing in the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory, respectfully repre- 
sent that because of the failure of the Cherokee to avail themselves of the benefits 
offered in the act approved June 7, 1897, by negotiating and treating with the Dawes 
Commisson with a view to the allotment in severalty of the lands in the Cherokee 
country, and such negotiations having apparently come to an end, we appear before 
you in this petition for the purjiose of presenting the desire of the Delawares, who 
are a })art of the Cherokee Nation, to treat with the said Dawes Commission sepa- 
rately from theCherokee, Avith a view to having the 157,600 acres of land ]>urchased bv 
the Delawares segregated and allotted in severalty to the Delawares, without restric- 
tion as to alienation and with proper exemptions from taxation. 

Attention is invited to the provisions of article 15 of the treatv with the Cherokee 
(14 St. L., 803), and the fourth article of the treaty with the Delawares (14 St. L., 
794) , and to the agreement l)ased on said treaty provisions, entered into between the 
Delawares and Cherokee on April 8, 1867, copy of which agreement is hereto 
attached marked "Exhibit A." 

The rights of the Delawares under the treaties and agreement are clearly defined 
and well establisned bv the opinion handed down by Chief Justice Nott of the Court 
of Claims. (See Ct. CI., 28, p. 281. ) 

For a further construction upon this agreement see Cherokee Nation r. Journev- 
cake (155 U. S., p. 196). 

The rights of the Delawares have been recognized and their request to have the 
157,600 acres of land purchased by them segregated before treating with the Chero- 
kee has been favorably considered, as will be seen by letter of the Secretary of the 
Interior dated ]May 7, addressed to the chairman of the Commission to the Five 
Civilized Tribes, inclosing a letter from Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs dated 
May 4, 1897. 

The desire of the Delawares and the object of this petition is to have such steps 
taken as will result in a separate treaty with a view to allotment in severalty with 
the Delawares, who absolutely own the land in question. 

The Delawares are amply able and well qualified, as will be learned u]ion investi- 
gation, to take care of themselves, and it is respectfully but urgently rejjresented 
that the Delawares no longer wish to submit to the domination over them by the 
Cherokee. 

This condition has been brought about by the action of the Cherokee government 
in admitting a large number of names to the Cherokee roll through fraud and for the 
purpose of revenue, which additions to the Cherokee roll decre;ises very materially 
the value of the individual interest the Delawares have in 157,600 acres of land yet 
to be segregated as selected from the lands of the Cherokee Nation. 

It can safely be stated that if the Delawares should endeavor to-<lay to select that 
amount of land it would be necessary for them to exj)end a large amount of money 
to purchase the improvements made upon the lands by the large influx of fraudulent 
additions to the Cherokee roll. 

The Delawares come to the Government in good faith, but thoroughly in earnest, 
and plead to have their petition granted for the reason that they tlesire immediate 
segregation of land i>urchase<l by them and the allotment in severalty. 

This can safely be done by the (xovernment for the reason that the Delawares 
have always been law-abidiuir and have proved themselves to be self-supj)orting and 
are well equi])ped to look after their interests individually should such allotment be 
made. 

S. Doc. IG 3 



34 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

It would apjiear under article 5 of the treaty with the Delawares that the Dawea 
Commii^sion can treat with them separately from the Cherokee. While the Delawares 
have separate and distinct individual rights and have maintained distinct tribal 
autonomy, they nevertheless became merged into and a part of the Cherokee Nation, 
one of the Five Civilized Tribes, under the agreement entered into April 8, 1867, and 
as such part of one of the Five Civilized Tribes it would appear that so far as their 
separate and well-defined interests are concerned treaty can be had with them. 

Said article 5 of the Delaware treaty provides: 

"The United States guarantees to said Delawares peaceable possession of their new 
home herein provided to be selected for them in the Indian country, and protection 
from hostile and internal strife and civil war, and a full and just participation in any 
general council or Territorial government that may be established for the Indians and 
tribes residing in said country." 

A liberal construction of this article would show that the Delawares, as a part of 
one of the Five Civilized Tribes, are entitled to be heard in any negotiations which 
may be had under the law affecting their interests or the interests of the nation to 
which they are attached and of which they are a part, and it is further argued that 
this coui"se can be pursued with a view to carrying out the policy of the Congress of 
the United States and of the Administration. 

A further desire of the Delawares and object of this petition is to have the Dawes 
Commission determine and settle the rights of the Delawares, under their agreement 
with the Cherokee, in the residue of the Cherokee lands after segregating all lands 
purchased from the Cherokee, and in the Cherokee national fund. 

The agreement between the Cherokee and the Delawares provides as follows: 

"On the fulfillment by the Delawares of the foregoing stipulations, all the mem- 
bers of the tril)e registered as above provided shall become members of the Cherokee 
Nation, with the same rights and annuities and the same participation (and no other) 
in the national funds as native Cherokees, save as hereinbefore provided, * * * 
and the children hereafter born of said Delawares so incorporated into the Cherokee 
Nation shall in all respects be regarded as native Cherokees." 

Under those provisions the Delawares claim the same right in every respect as the 
native Cherokees enjoy. 

We append hereto a copy of papers heretofore filed before the Dawes Commission 
and the Interior Department, to wit: Memoranda entitled "What the Delawares 
want;" a letter from the Hon. D. W. Bushyhead, former chief of the Cherokee 
Nation; a letter of Thomas P. Smith, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to the 
Secretary of Interior; a letter of the Secretary of the Interior to the Commission of 
the Five Civilized Tribes, and a letter of Thomas Ryan, Acting Secretary of the 
Interior, to the undersigned Delaware Indian representatives. 

We further append several valuable affidavits not heretofore used in this behalf. 

A reading of the fifteenth article of the treaty of 1866 will show that provision was 
made for the removal to the Cherokee Nation of two classes of Indian tril)es; first, 
those who did not desire to maintain in full force their tribal relations; second, those 
who did. It will be seen that in the first instance no land was to be specifically set 
aside, and they were allowed no selection other than as citizens of the Cherokee 
Nation. Under this provision the Shawnees bought citizenship in the Cherokee 
Nation and removed thereto. In the second provision selection of land was provided 
for and the entity of the tribe was preserved, and it was under this provision that 
the Delawares made their agreement with the Cherokee Nation and removed to the 
country. And it is under this provision the Delawares claim that, while they have 
all the rights of native Cherokees, they have the further right to the lands they 
bought and paid for, the title to which is guaranteed under the treaty and agreement 
above mentioned, and having such rights aijd having preserved their entity as the 
Delaware tribe, they urge the granting of this petition. 

R. C. Adams, 
Jno. Bullette. 



Exhibit 



S. H. Benge, of lawful age, residing at Fort Gibson, Cherokee Nation, Indian 
Territory, having been duly sworn, states on his oath that to the best of his knowl- 
edge he was a mend)er of the Cherokee national senate at the time the Cherokee 
Nation made an agreement with the Delawares in 1867; that he was familiar with 
said agreement; that he was a witness to the transaction, and a mem})er of thi' Senate 
that ratified the agreement; that at that time the finances of the Ciierokee Nation were 
at a very low ebb; the war having just ended, the nation badly in debt, and the 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 35 

treasury empty, and when a trade was made with the Delawares and they agreed to 
pay $121,824.02 for the riirht of citizenship for themselves and children it was not 
enough to sujiply the deticiency in the treasury, and William P. ]\i)ss, as i)rinoipal 
chief of the Cherokee Nation, under the authority of the lifternth articlt" of the treaty 
of 1866, which deponent helped to make, and Ciiief Koss having tlie ajiproval of the 
leading men of the Cherokee Nation, and thinking it was a good bargain because of 
the needs of the treasury at that time, offered to the Delawares to sell each one of the 
registered Delawares the right of selecting 160 acres of land each, which brought the 
Cherokee Nation the additional large sum of $157,600. This was considered by the 
■Cherokee Nation at this time a very fortunate deal for them (the Cherokees) as they 
had a very large amount of land and a very small amount of money. 

In the case of the Shawnees, they simply Ixmght the right of citizenship, without 
any additional rights. 

S. H. Bexge. 

In witness whereof, I hereto attach mv hand and seal this, the 10th day of June, 
A. D., 1897. 

Indian Territory, Northeni Judicial Dirision, ss: 

Before me, the undersigned authority, personally appeared S. H. Benge, to me 
■nell known, who acknowledged the execution of the within instrument as his own 
voluntarv act and deed. 



j\Iy commission expires February 1, 1900. 



R. E. Butler, Xntnri/ Public. 



Exhibit 8. 



Indian Territory, Xortliern District, ss: 

Rev. Williams Adams, of lawful age, a resident of Alluwe, Cherokee Nation, Indian 
Territorv, having been dulj* sworn, states on his oath that to the best of his knowledge 
that— 

He is a member of the Delaware tribe of Indians and that his name appears upon 
the registered roll of Delawares of February 18, 1867; that he hesitated several days 
before agreeing to remove to the Cherokee Nation, until he was assured by John 
Connor, Jim Connor, and Charles Journeycake that the Delawares who removed to 
the Cherokee Nation should not only enjoy all the rights, privileges, and immunities 
of a native Cherokee, but that every member whose name appeared u]ion the register 
would be assured 160 acres of land, nor should his continued ownershiji and occu- 
pancy of such be interfered with in any manner whatever without his consent; 
that in case of future allotment that the registered Delawares were guaranteed that 
amount independent of their conmiunion interests in the Cherokee Nation, and rely- 
ing upon these statements as above set forth, and believing that they would be faith- 
fully carried out, I consented to remove to the Cherokee Nation. 

That before the Delawares removed to the Cherokee Nation affiant was clerk of 
the Delaware council and had intended to take his allotment in the State of Kansas, 
but on account of his occupying the position that he did and Iteing a minister of the 
gospel the Delawares were very anxious that I remove with them, l)ut I refused to 
do so until the agreement was explained to me as I have above stated. 

William Adams. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 12th day of June, A. D. 1897. 

[seal.] J. A. TiLLOTSON, Xotary Public. 

My commission expires June 8, 1899. 



Exhibit 9. 

Piper, Kans., June 14, 1S97. 
John G. Pratt, of lawful age, a resident of Piper, Wyandotte County, Kans., hav- 
ing been duly sworn, states on his oath to the best of his knowledge that he was 
United States Delaware Indian agent at the time the Cherokee Nation made an agree- 
ment with the Delaware Indians in 1867; that he was familiar with said agreement 
and that he was a witness to the transaition, and at the time the Cheroki'es wt're 
very desirous of the Delawares removing to the Cherokee Nation, and that the Dela- 
wares bought 160 acres of land for each man, woman, and child who should remove 



36 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

to the Cherokee Nation and whose name appeared upon a certain register made hy 
him. This land was to be theirs in fee simple, and the entire amount was to be 
deducted from the Cherokee domain before allotment could take place. In addition 
to paying $1 per acre for 160 acres of land each, the Delawares paid a large sum of 
money, which was to make them equal in all rights, privileges, and immunities of a 
native Cherokee, and the children born of such Delawares were to be considered in 
all respects as a native-born Cherokee; that it was the understanding at that time 
that a registered Delaware oi- heirs, in case of allotment, would get 160 acres of land 
and whatever a Cherokee got besides, but that their children would only get what a 
Cherokee would get. 

John G. Pratt. 

The above affidavit sworn to and subscribed by John G. Pratt before me (David 
Holyfield), a notarv public in and for the countv of AVyandotteand State of Kansas, 
this 14th day of June, A. D. 1897. 

David Holyfield, Notary Public. 

My commission expires October 6, 1900. 



Exhibit 10. 

The Secretary of the Interior. 

Sir: The Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes are in receipt of a letter addressed 
to the Secretary, of date June 23, 1897, signed by R. C. Adams and John Bullette, 
representing the Delaware tribe of Indians, which has been referred to them "for 
their information and such consideration as in their discretion may be deemed proper 
and expedient, and for an early report on any proposed action." 

The Commission has given the subject-matter of said communication careful con- 
sideration and report: 

This communication to the Secretary was preceded by one entitled "A memoran- 
dum of what the Delawares want," which has been referred to, and received the 
recommendation of the honorable Commissioner of Indian Affairs and forwarded 
with the approval of the honorable Secretary to the Commission for its guidance. 
In this memorandum the Delawares ask that the Commission "be instructed, in 
negotiating with the Cherokees, to exclude from such negotiation the 157,000 acres 
bought by the registered Delawares, or at least to negotiate with the Cherokee Nation 
no further relative to the lands bought and paid for by the Delawares than to segre- 
gate the same to the Delawares, as proposed by the Cherokee agreement with the 
Delawares of April 8, 1867, and article 4, July 26, 1866, Delaware treaty." 

The communication of Messrs. Adams and Bullette is based on the assumption 
that the negotiations of this Commission with the Cherokee in respect to allotment 
of their lands in severalty "had failed," and that the same has "apparently come 
to an end." There has been no " failure," nor have negotiations "come to an end." 
They have only been postponed for the present at the request of the Cherokee com- 
missioners to enable them to confer with their people because of the new conditions in 
which they find themselves, growing out of recent legislations causing radical changes 
in their government to take effect next January unless modified by agreements made 
in the meantime. It is true, however, that the subject-matter now under considera- 
tion has proved a serious obstacle to a successful negotiation, and will, unless a solu- 
tion of the difficulty is found, be likely to block all negotiation looking to an equitable 
allotment of their lands among their citizens entitled to them. The disposition of 
the 157,600 acres claimed by the Delawares must first be settled before there can be 
any agreement allotting their lands among their citizen Indians, which is the main 
object of the present Commission, the amount of each allottee depending upon the 
disposition of this large tract of 157,600 acres purchased by the Delawares of the 
Cherokee in 1867. 

The request of the Delawares in the communication under consideration is that the 
Connnission be instructed to "treat with the Delawares separately from the Cherokee 
with a view to having the 157,()00 acres of land purchased by the Delawares segre- 
gated and allotted in severalty to the Delawares without restriction as to alienation 
and with ]iroper exemptions as to taxation." 

That there must be some solution of this question is apparent. But the method of 
negotiation suggested — viz, tliat the United States C^immission treat directly with the 
Delawares also and define the lines of their purchase and then allot it among the 
registered Delawares without the voice of other parties affected by the proceeding — 
seems to this Commission to encounter insurmomitable difficulties. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 37 

First. This was a purohaso made thirty years a^ro and by its very terms " the selec- 
tion of the lands to be purchased by the Delawares may be made by saiil Delawares 
in any part of the Cherokee Reservation east of the line of 90 dej^rees not already 
selected and in possession of other jiarties." They entered into occupation of that 
purchase and have occupied just what they selected under that purchase ever since 
with the acquiescence of the Cherokee. The lines were thus established by the 
parties themselves, and if there is anything wrong about lines thus established it is 
their own fault. But if there is anything wrong their rearrangement of lines with 
the United States Commission alone can not affect other parties not })articipating in it. 

Second. The law creating this Commission authorized them to treat with the Five 
Civilized Tribes only, naming them, and the Delawares are not one of them. They 
have no authority to treat with others. 

Third. By the very agreement of purchase it was stipulated that "on the fulfill- 
ment by the Delawares of the foregoing stipulations all the members of the tribe 
registered as above provided shall become members of the Cherokee Nation, with all 
the voice, rights, and immunities and the same participation (and no other) in the 
national funds as native Cherokee, save as hereinbefore provided. And the chil- 
dren hereafter born of such Delawares so incorporated into the Cherokee Nation 
shall in all respects be regarded as native Cherokee." 

It follows that every one of these Delawares became ispo facto as much Cherokee 
as the Cherokee themselves, and are in law, whatever be the fact, represented in 
every conference of the Ciierokee. To negotiate with the Delawares separately is 
in law negotiating with a part of the Cherokee only. 

Third. After "all the members of the Delaware tribe shall become members of 
the Cherokee Nation," as is provided in the treaty of 1866 and the agreement of 1867 
made in conformity with it, it is difhcult to see what is left of the Delaware tribe 
to negotiate with, or for any other purpose except, it may be, to hold the title of the 
original purchase in trust and for the benefit of those who had become Cherokee, 
which contemplated allotment. 

Fourth. The great obstacle to a successful negotiation with the Cherokee for 
. allotment lies in a difference of interpretation of the agreement of April 8, 1867, 
under which the purchase by the Delawares was made. 

Their claim- is that for the sale of their lands in Kansas they were to receive a 
specific tract of land in the Cherokee Nation equal to 160 acres each for every "reg- 
istered Delaware," and that in addition and for a further consideration provided for 
in the treaty they piirchased admission to full citizenship in the nation, viz, a pay- 
ment into the funds of the nation a specific sum provided for in the treaty, and took 
with it the further guaranty that when the lands of the nation were allotted their 
share should be at least 160 acres, whatever that left for the original Cherokee; that 
is, that they are entitled to two allotments of 160 acres each, one out of their own 
lands jnirchased and paid for by them, in which the Cherokee have no interest, the 
other as Cherokee citizens in the Cherokee lands, with this guaranty that this latter 
should be at least 160 acres. The Cherokee, on the other hand, claim that the 
Delawares are entitled to only one allotment, which is guaranteed to be at least 160 
acres. This contention seems to be the only obstacle to an agreement for allotment, 
the Cherokee and Delawares both being anxious for it, but each insisting on its 
construction of the agreement. Could an authoritative official construction be put 
upon that instrument, by which the Commission and the tribes nnist be governed in 
this regard, the Commission believes that there would then be but little difficulty 
in coming to a satisfactory agreement. Although the Supreme Court anil the Court 
of Claims have both recently passed, in different cases, upon this agreement, and 
although their language seems strongly inclined to the side of the Delaware claim, 
yet there is no direct decision that the allotment in the land purchased is in addition 
to one in the common land of the Cherokee accruing to the right of citizenship so 
as to give to each registered Delaware two allotments of 160 acres each, one in the 
specific jmrchase and one in the common lands. The Conunission understands the 
instructions received from the Department in the letter of the Commissioner of 
Indian .\ffairs of May 4. 1897, to the honorable Secretary, reporting on the reference 
to him of "What the Delawares want," and the Secretary's letter of the 7th May 
forwarding the same with his approval to the Commission, to follow these decisions. 
Each uses language strongly inclined to the contention of the Delawares, but nowhere 
directly decides that they are entitled to two allotments of 160 acres each. 

If the Commission could be furnished with an olHcial opinion instructing them, in 
language so explicit tliat neither tribe could doubt its language, that there should be 
either two or one such allotment they believe that the obstacles in the way of a final 
agreement would in a great measure disai)i)ear. 

They therefore respectfully request that they may be furnished, at as early a day 



38 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

as is convenient, with such express and exphcit instructions as neither tribe can mis- 
understand. 

Tlie Commission desires, in this connection, to call attention to one feature of the 
prayer of the Delawares in their communication to the Secretary now under con- 
sideration. While asking for two allotments of 160 acres each they take care to ask 
that the one allotted out of the purchase be without restriction as to alienation. Now 
these allotments are for homesteads, two for each allottee, and as Ijut one can be 
occupied at a time they jaropose to sell out the other. All experience has shown 
such unrestricted o})portunity for sale to result, in an incredibly short space of time, 
in the disappearance of every homestead so open to sale. This is a policy which 
ought not to be sanctioned by the Government. They have to add, also, that if all 
other methods of securing the allotment of the Delaware purchase fail it is perfectly 
competent for the Secretary to order it done under the "severalty act" (Stat. L. , 24, 
p. 388). In that case the allottee could not sell out without the consent of Congress 
under twenty-five years and would become an American citizen on taking his allot- 
ment. 

For these reasons the Commission is of opinion that it should not be directed 
to negotiate with the Delaware Indians separately from the Cherokees as asked for 
by the Delawares in the communication under consideration. The Commission has 
also to ask, in addition to the instruction as to the quantity of land each Delaware is 
entitled to under the agreement of purchase and admission to citizenship, that they 
also be instructed whether they shall add the Delawares to the citizenship roll of the 
Cherokees in the revision of that roll as recjuired by the last two Indian appropria- 
tion bills. This would seem to be necessary if they are to share as Cherokee citizens 
in the allotment of their lands. But it involves another difficulty. If they are 
absorbed into the Cherokee Nation, what becomes of their tril)al existence as Dela- 
wares, and what becomes of their title to the lands purchased? They hold title to 
the purchase in their capacity as Delawares, while their interest in the common 
property of the Cherokees is that of Cherokee citizens. It seems to the Commission 
that, if it be decided that they are interested in both, the only safe way would be 
to first allot to them as Delawares their land purchased as Delawares, and afterwards 
enroll them as Cherokees and allot to them as Clierokee citizens their share in the 
common lands. But on this point they wish instructions. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

With great respect, Henky L. Dawes, 

Chairman of the Coinmission. to the Five Civilized Tribes. 

PiTTSFIELD, M.ASS., Jidij 15, 1897. 

The papers referred to the Commission are herewith returned. 



Exhibit 11. 

Contract by and between George BuUette, of Tulsa, Jolm Young and John Sarcoxie, jr., of 
BartlesviUe, Henry Armstnmg, of Coodys Bluff, and John H. Secondyne, of White 
Oak, all of the Indian Territory, parties of the first part, and Ricliard C. Adams, of 
Fort Gibson, and John BuUette, of Claremore, Ind. T., parties of the .second part. 

Know all men by these presents, that by virtue of an act passed by the registered 
Delawares and the Delaware tribe of Indians, in general council assembled, at Bart- 
lesviUe, Ind. T., on the 29th day of July, 1898, authorizing "the employment of 
necessary counsel to bring suit in the United States Court of Claims against the 
Cherokee Nation under the provisions of the act of Congress, approved June 28, 
1898, and for other purposes," copy of which is attached hereto and made a part of 
this contract, and 

Whereas the scope of the authority given in said act to said parties of the first 
part being full and complete for the purposes indicated in said act, to wit, to employ 
attorneys to bring suit against the Cherokee Nation, and to represent the I^elaware 
Indians in court and ):)efore the Dejjartments or any commissions or tribunals of the 
Cnited States. 

The reason for exercising such authority is to secure the rights of the registered 
Delawares and other Delawares under agreen)ent with the Cherokee Nation, which 
rights are denied by said Cherokees; and for further reason of the desire of the Del- 
aware Indians to obtain a final, just, and equitalile accounting from the United States 
under treaty stii)ulations and the laws of Congress. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 39 

Now therefore tliis aijrctMnent witnes^eth: Tluit for aiul in eonsidenition of $1, the 
receijit whereof it< herel)y (Uily acknowled^cil, and varions other valuable serviees 
rendered and expenses incurred while aetintr under the instructions of the Delaware 
l)eople, in niakinir numerous trii)s to the city of Washinirton and other places in 
behalf of the Delaware people, we, (xeorge Hullette, of Tulsa, .John Youni; and John 
Sarcoxie, jr., of Bartlesville, Henry Arnistrong, of Coodys Bluff, John Secondyne, of 
White Oak, all of tlie Indian Territory, beinti fanners and also occupied as the Del- 
aware l)usiness conuuittee, by virtue of authority in us invested, we do hereby contract 
and a.trree for and on behalf of the rejristereil Delaware? and the Delaware tribe and 
members thereof, severally and individually, as [larties of the first part, with Richard 
C. Adams, of Fort (libson, financial ajxcnt, and John Bullette, of Claremore, Ind. T., 
attorney at law, parties of the second part, as follows: 

Witnesseth, That in pursuance of the authority in us vested by act hereunto 
attached to tliis contract, entered into at Independence, Kans. , on the 4th day of 
August, 1898, by said parties of the first part with said jiarties of the second part for 
the purpose and oI)ject, to wit: 

First. Of prosecuting a suit in the Court of Claims on l)ehalf of the Delawares 
against the Cherokee Nation to determine the rights of the registered Delawares in 
the communal funds and hinds of the Cherokee Nation under the agreement of 1867 
between the Dehiwares and the C'herokee. 

Second. To determine the rights of the deceased registered Delawares and their 
heirs under the agreement of 1867 between the Delawares and the Cherokee. 

Third. To represent the Delaware tribe of Indians in securing their allotments of 
land and in the distribution of their communal interest in the Cherokee funds under 
the agreement of 1867 between the Delawares and the Cherokee. 

Fourth. To represent the Delaware Indians before the F'xecutive Departments for 
the purpose of obtaining a general and final accounting between the I'^nited States Gov- 
ernment and the Delawares on account of any balance due on invested funds in stocks 
and bonds for tlie Delawares on account of lands sold to the (Government by the 
Delawares, or sold bv the Government for the Delaware Indians under treaties of 
1818, 1829, 1854, 1860, 1861, and 1866, and other treaties and laws. 

Fifth. To recover from the United States pay for the land sold by the Delawares 
to the Wyandot Indians under agreement of 1848, and for four sections of land in the 
State of Kansas, sold to the Christian Indians under the treatv of 1854, and for land 
known as the Diamond Island, in the Missouri River, containing 430 acres, more or 
less, which has not been satisfactorily accounted for; and further to recover the 
rights of the Delawares in the Carondalet grant, referred to in the treaty of 18.'52. 

Sixth. To recover for the Delawares their reversionary interest in the leased lands 
on the Delaware River from those in possession or those who are liable therefor to 
Delaware tribe. 

It is hereby understood and agreed that any and all lands and moneys recovered 
by and through the efforts of the said parties of the second part, shall be paid to 
the Delaware Indians or placed to their credit after the compensation herein pro- 
vided for has been paid to said parties of the second part. 

It is further understood and agreed that for and in consideration of services to be 
rendered by said parties of the second ])art in representing the registered Delawares, 

in the matter of their claim for interest in communal lands and funds <>f the 

Cherokee Nation, in suit in the Court of Claims under act of Congress approved 
June 28, 1898, the said parties of the first part for and on behalf of the resristered 
Delaware Indians agree to pay to the said parties of the second part a retaining fee 
of 6| ]ier cent of the lands allotted to the said registered Delawares under the 
said act approved June 28, 1898, with the privilege to the said ])arties of the second 
part of selecting the aggregate amount of land herein provided for as a retainer, or, 
in lieu thereof, a fee equal to (>1 per cent of the value of the land so allotted to 
the said registered Delawares. 

It is further understood and agreed that said parties of the second part shall 
receive a fee of IS:] per cent f>f such lands as may be recovered or secured to the 
deceased registered Delaware Indians or their heirs, with the right of selei'tion of 
the same (or a fee etiual to 18| per cent of the value of said land). 

It is further understood that said parties of the second ]>art shall have a fee of 10 
per cent of anv monev or other securities recovered from the United States gnnving 
out of the stipulation's under treaties of 1818, 1829, 1832, 1848, 1854, 1860, 18()1. and 
1866, or other treaties or laws. 

It is further agreed that said parties of the second ]>art shall be paid a fee of 10 per 
cent of any moneys rec()vered from the ('herokee Nation which may have been 
wrongfully and uidawfuUy approi)riated from the Cherokee national fund to the 
detriment of the per capita interest of each Delaware Indian. 



40 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS, 

It is further understood and agreed that said parties of the second part sliall receive 
a fee of 10 per cent for any lands or funds recovered from indivi(Uials occujiying lands 
which belong to the Delaware Indians, or in which they may have a reversionary 
interest. 

We further agree to take such further action as may be necessary and proper to 
make effective the agreement, and we authorize the said Richard C. Adams and 
John BuUette, or their legal representatives, to act and do for us in our name and 
on our behalf all such acts as may be necessary and proper in the premises. 

This contract shall be in force for a period of six years from the date of its approval 
by the Secretary of the Interior, with the right of renewal, and for the purpose of 
enabling our said attorneys to secure proper assistance and to procure the means to 
prosecute our claims, this contract shall be negotiable in whole or in part by our 
said attorneys, Richard C. Adams and John Bullette, and is declared to be coupled 
with an interest, and is irrevocable. 

In witness whereof we hereunto attach our hands and seals on this 4th day of 
August, 1898. 

George Bullette, 
John (his x mark) Young, 
Henry Armstrong, 
John H. Secondyne, 
John Sarcoxie, Jr., and 
Richard C. AdAMs, 
John Bullette, 

Attorneys in Fact. 
Witnesses to mark: 

C. H. HOGAN, 

Wm. Johnston. 

I, H. D. Terrell, judge of probate court, l)eing a court of record, do certify that 
such contract was made and executed in my presence at Independence, Ivans., on the 
4th day of August, 1898, by George Bullette of Tulsa, Ind. T. ; John Young, Bartles- 
ville, Ind. T. ; John Sarcoxie, jr., Bartlesville, Ind. T. ; Henry Armstrong, ('oodys 
Bluff, Ind. T. ; John Secondyne, Whiteoak, Ind. T. ; business committee Delaware 
tribe, and by John Bullette, party of the second part, under the authority of the 
act of the Delaware in general council assembled, as per copy herewith attached, 
being personally present and being presented by power of attorney hereto attached. 

Witness my hand and seal, date and day alxjve written. 

[seal.] H. D. Terrell, 

f Stamp, lOcents.) rrobute Judge Montqomery CoimttJ, Kans. 

t August 4, 1.S9.S. I -^ -^ ' ^ 

I, Jacob Klein, judge of the circuit court, l)eing a court of record, do hereby (certify 
tliat such contract was made and executed in my presence, at St. Louis, Mo., on the 
6th day of September, 1898, by Richard C. Adams, of Fort Gibson, Ind. T., party of 
the second part, under authority of the act of the Delawares, in general council 
assembled, as per copy accompanying this contract. 

Witness my hand and seal, day and date above written, 
f stamp, 10 cents. ) " Jacob Klein, [seAL.] 

ISeptember 6, 1898. i j,,^j^g ^j fj^^ Circuit Court, City of St. Louis, Mo. 

Attest to the seal of court: 

[seal.] Thos. B. Roc;ers, 

Clerk of the Circuit Court, City of >St. Louis, State of Missouri. 



Exhibit 12. 

AN ACT autliorizinp the employment of neoes.sary counsel to bring suit in the United States Court of 
Claims under the provisions of the act of Congress approved June 28, 1898, and for other purposes. 

Be it euacted liy the Pelanmres in general council assembled: Tliat (ieorge Bullette, of 
Tulsa, John Young and John Sarcoxie, jr., of Bartlesville, Henry Armstrong, of 
Coodys Bluff, and John Secondyne, of Whiteoak, all of the Indian Territory (whose 
occujjation has been hitherto that of mendjers of the Delaware business committee), 
are hereby appointed and elected to employ and retain, and to enter into contracts 
with Richard ('. Adams, of Fort Gibson, Ind.T., and John P>ullette, of Claremore, 
Ind.T., to institute and prosecute to final determination in the United States Court 
of Claims and the Supreme Court of the United States, as {irovided in the act of Con- 
gress apj)roved June 2S, 1898, and to represent the Delaware Indians before the 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 41 

various Departments of the United States, committees of Congress of the United 
States, before the Dawes Commission, or liefore any other tribunal, agent, or com- 
mission of the United States (iovernment \vhere the interests of the Delaware jieo- 
ple are involved, and to authori/e said attorneys to employ such counsel, aid, or 
assistance as in their judgment may be necessary, and to negotiate an interest in 
the fee herein provided for. 

That said Richard C. Adams and John BuUette shall dilligently prosecute the 
claims of the Delaware Indians, more specifically set out in the tVillowing items: 

Item 1. All the rights of the Delaware Indians under the agreement entered into 
between the Delaware Indians and the Cherokee Nation, dated April 8, 1867, 
involving — 

(o) The segregation and allotment of the lands of the registered Delawares under 
said agreement. 

(^)"The determination and allotment of the rights of the heirs of the deceased 
registered Delawares under said agreement. 

(c) The allotment to all of the Delawares of their share in the residue of the Chero- 
kee national lands. 

{(I) The distribution to all of the Delawares of their share of the Cherokee national 
fund. 

Item 2. The claim of the Delaware Indians for any balances due on account of 
funds invested for the Delawares by the United States Government in stocks and 
bonds which have not been fully accounted for to the satisfaction of the Delawares. 

Item ?>. The claim of the Delaware Indians for balances which may be due them 
from the United States in a final and full accounting for lands sold to the Ciovern- 
ment by the Delawares, or sold by the Government for the Delawares under the 
treaties of 1818, 1829, 1832, 1860, 1861, and 1866, or any other treaties or laws which 
will be more specifically set out upon filing the claim. 

Item 4. Claim of the "Delawares for certain land sold by the Delawares in the State 
of Kansas to the Wyandot Indians under agreement of 1848, involving about thirty- 
six sections of land, more or less. 

Item 5. Claim for certain lands leased by the Delaware Indians on the Delaware 
River, during the Colonial period, w^hich land the Delaware Indians never conveyed. 

Item 6. Claiiii for pay for four sections of land in the State of Kansas, sold to the 
Christian Indians under treaty of 1854, at $2.50 per acre, amounting to §6,400. 

Item 7. The claim for the land known as the Diamond Island, in the Missouri 
River, containing 430 acres, more or less, for which, under the treaty of 1866, the 
Delawares should have received ip2.50 per acre. 

Item 8. Claim of the Delawares for their interest together with the Shawnees in 
the Carondelet grant, lying between the river St. Coure and Cape (iirardeau, in the 
State of ]\Iissouri, under date of January 4, 1793, and referred to in the treaties with 
the Delawares and Shawnees of 1832. 

The persons appointed and elected under this act to employ attor- 
neys and to enter into contract with said Richard C. Adams and John 
BuUette shall contract for their compensation for their services here- 
tofore rendered and to be rendered, and for reimbursement for money 
already expended in this behalf, as follows: 

1. A fee of 6} per cent of the lands allotted to the registered under the agreement 
of April 8, 1867, with the right to select and locate the same, or a fee ecpial to 6} per 
cent of the value thereof, as a retainer in representing said registen-d Delawares in 
the matter of their communal interest in lands and funds of the Cherokee Nation 
which are involved in the suit authoi'ized by act of Congress aproved June 28, 1898. 

2. A fee of 18i|- per cent of such lands as liiay be recovered under the rights of the 
deceased registere<l Delawai'es or their heirs under the agreement of April 8, 1867, 
which rights are involved in the suit authorized by act of Congress approved June 
28, 1898, with the [irivilege of selecting and locating the same, or a fee equal to ISJ 
per cent of the value thereof. 

3. A fee of 10 per cent for such money as may be recovered to the Delaware 
Indians from the Cherokee Nation overand aljovethe 8121,824 originally jiaid l)y the 
said Delawares into the Cherokee national fund for a conununal interest in the lands 
and funds of the Cherokee Nation. 

4. A fee not to exceed 35 per cent for all lands and money recovered from the 
United States or individual citizens thereof under any of the treaties and laws of the 
United States referred to hereinbefore. 

]'r(jri(led, That the said George BuUette, John Young, John Sarcoxie, jr., Ilcnry 
Armstrong, and John Secondyne, shall estimate the amount of land due under the 



42 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

foregoinu; provisions to the said Richard C. Adams and John Bullette, and shall 
execute such papers for and on behalf of the registered Uelawares and for and on 
behalf of the Delaware Indians, general and individual, as will secure to said Adams 
and Bullette their fees as herein provided. 

This act shall take effect and be in force from the date of its passage. 

I hereby certify that the foregoing act was passed by the Delaware council of the 
Delaware Indians, in general council assembled, at Bartlesville, Cherokee Nation, 
Indian Territory, this 29th day of July, A. D. 1898. 

Colonel (his x mark) Jackson, 

I'residind of tlie Council. 
Witnesses to mark: 
J. W. McCracken, 
Wm. Johnston. 
Attest: 

F. M. OVERLESS, 

Secretary of the Council. 
Upon satisfactory evidence that the council was held as indicated in the foregoing 
act, representing the wishes of the Delawares individually and as a tribe, I herel:)y 
approve the same. 



United States Indian Agent, Union Agency. 



United States Indian Service, 
Union Agency, Muscogee, Ltd. T., August 12, 1898. 

Whereas, under section 25 of the act for the protection of the people of the Indian 
Territory and for other purposes, the Delaware Indians residing in the Cherokee 
Nation are authorized and empowered to bring suit in the Court of Claims in the 
United States within sixty days after the passaee of said act, against the Cherokee 
Nation for the purjjose of determining the rights of said Delaware In'dians in and to 
the lands and funds of said nation, under their contract and agreement with the 
Cherokee Nation, dated April 8, 1867; and 

W^hereas on the 29th day of July, 1898, the Delawares, in general council assem- 
bled, appointed and elected George Bullette, of Tulsa; John Young and John Sar- 
coxie, jr., of Bartlesville; Henry Armstrong, of Coodys Bluff, and John Secondyne, 
of White Oak, all of the Indian Territory, who were then and at that time the busi- 
ness committee of said Delaware Indians, to employ and retain Richard C. Adams, 
of Fort Gibson, and John Bullette, of Claremore, both of the Indian Territory, to 
institute and prosecute to a final determination in the United States Court of Claims 
and the Supreme Court of the United States said suit as provided in the act of Con- 
gress approved June 28, 1898, and also to represent the Delaware Indians before the 
various departments of the United States, committees of Congress, before the Dawes 
Commission, or any other tribunal. 

Now, therefore, the action of said council having been submitted to me for 
approval, I hereby approve the same, subject to the approval of the Interior Depart- 
ment, with this modification or explanation: That I do not assume l)y such approval 
to ratify or approve the rate of fees fixed by said council through said business com- 
mittee, because I am not sufficiently advised as to the amount of labor to be done by 
the said council or attorneys, and therefore leave the regulation of the fees to the 
Department, with this statement, however, that the business committee herein men- 
tioned is a representative one of the Delaware Indians, and is capable of making a 
contract. 

Very respectfully, Dew. I\I. Wisdom, 

United States Indian Agent. 



P]XHIBIT IK. 

Indian Tkhkitcky, October 11, 1898. 
We, the undersigned Delaware Indians, residing in the Cherokee Nation, being 
the survivors of the Delaware Indians whose names ai)pear u])on the register of Dela- 
ware Indians made in February, 18(57, by John G. Pratt, the United States Indian 
agent for the Delaware Indians, and on file in the Dei)artm«nt of the Interior of the 
United States, and known as the "Delaware Register," and the next of kin and heirs 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 43 

at law of such registered Delaware Indians wlio have since deceased, do hereby 
certify : 

1. Whereas in and by certain agreement made the Sth day of April, ISfi", between 
the Cherokee Nation and the Delaware tribt^ of Indians, the Cherokee, parties of 
the tirst part, for and in consideration of certain payments and the fulfillment of cer- 
tain conditions therein mentioned, among otlier things, agreed: 

" To sell to the Delawares, for their occu])ancy, a quantity of land east of the line of 
96° west longitude, in thi' aggregate e(|ual to IHOacrt's for each indiviilual of tlie Dela- 
ware tribe who has been enrolled upon a certain regii^ter made Fe))ruary IS, hSfiT, b}' 
the Delaware agent, and on file in the Office of Indian Affairs, being the list of 
Delawares who elect to remove to the Indian country, to wliicli list may be added 
only with the consent of the Delaware council the names of such other Delawares as 
may, within one month after the signing of this agreement, desire to be added 
thereto. And the selections of the lands to be purchased ))y the Delawares may be 
made by the said Delawares in any ])art of the said Chei'okee Reservation east of the 
line of 96° not already selected and in possession of other parties." 

And whereas the said Delawares made the said payments and fulfilled all of said 
conditions; 

And whereas the number of said Delawares enrolled upon the said register being 
the list of Delawares who elected to remove to the Indian country, including the 
names of other Delawares added with the consent of the Delaware council within 
one month after the signing of said agreement, of those desiring to ))e added tiiereto, 
as provided by said agreement, was 985, making the nundser of acres sold by the 
Cherokees and to be selected by the Delawares as aforesaid, 157, (HIO. 

Now, therefore, we, Delaware Indians as aforesaid, do herel)y certify that the 
selections of land made by the said registered Delaware Indians, and the heirs of 
such as died before selections were made, are as herein appears and is set forth. 

2. Whereas, by the twenty-fifth section of the act of Congress approved June 28, 
1898, entitled "An act for the jirotection of the people of the Indian Territory, and 
for other purposes," it was provided: 

" Before any allotments shall be made of lands in the Cherokee Nation there shall 
be segregated therefrom, by the Commission heretofore mentioned, in separate allot- 
ments, or otherwise, one hundred and fifty-seven thousand si.\ hundred acres pur- 
chased by the Delaware Tribe of Indians from the Cherokee Nation under agreement 
of April 8, 1867." 

Now, therefore, the said Delaware Indians respectfully request that the 157,600 
acres of land selected by the said Delawares as aforesaid, and herein descrilied and 
set forth, be segregated from the other lands in the Cherokee Nation, in ])ursuance 
of provisions of the said section of the said act. 

3. Whereas, by an agreement dated August 4, 1898, and duly acknowledged on the 
said date before a court of record, said agreement being in i-onfirmation nf i)revious 
agreements of tlie same nature and of other like agreements with indivi(hial Dela- 
wares, Richard C. Adams and John Bullette are made, constituted, and appointed 
the true and lawful attorneys of the said Delawares, and of each of them, irrevocal)le, 
for the purposes therein mentioned, including the purpose of representing the said 
Delawares in any and all controversies with the said Cherokees over their respective 
rights, and of bringing to a determination all questions which were or might be in 
controversy concerning said rights; 

And whereas the said Richard C. Adams and John Bullette, under and 1)y virtue 
of said agreements, and as compensation for the services rendered and to lie rendered 
by them under and uiider the authority of the said agreements, are entitled, among 
other things, for themselves and their assigns, to 25,640 acres of said 157,600 acres of 
land, as well as to an equal projiortion of the lands to which the said Delawares may 
be entitled in addition to said 157,600 acres by virtue of their communal rights or 
rights as citizens of the said Cherokee Nation; 

Now, therefore, we, the said Delaware Indians, do hereby further ratify and con- 
firm the said agreements with said Richard C. Adams and John P>nllette, and we do 
hereby certify that the said Ricduird C. Adams and John IJuUette have full power 
and authority on our liehalf, and on behalf of all of said Delaware Indians, to act 
for and represent us in all matters of controversy lietween the saiil Delawares and 
the said (Jherokees, and in all matters relating to the said lands, as well the lands 
to which we may be entitled by virtue of our connnunal rii.dit, or rights as citizens 
of the Cherokee Nation, as the said 157,600 acres of land jiurchased by the said Del- 
awares as aforesaid, and in all matters relating to the selection of said lands, or tlie 
establishing of the title of the said Delawares thereto, and in all matters relating 
to the recovery of our share, and the share of the said Delaware Indians, in and to 
the communal funds of the said Cherokee Nation, and in all matters relating to the 



44 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

claim or claims of the said Delaware Indians against the United States Govern- 
ment; and that as to any and all of such matters, and as to any and all other matters 
mentioned or referred to in the said agreements with said Richard C. Adams and 
John Bullette, the said ■Richard C. Adams and John BuUette have as full power 
and authority in the premises, on our behalf, and on behalf of the said Delawares, 
as we, or the said Delawares, might or would have if we were personally present and 
acting for ourselves, and that the said power and authority so granted to and con- 
ferred upon the said Richard C. Adams and John Bullette, as aforesaid, is coupled 
with an interest and irrevocable. 



Exhibit 14. 

November 4, 1899. 
Acting Chairman of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Muskogee, Ind. T. 

Sir: On August 23, 1898, Messrs. Logan, Demond, and Harby addressed a communi- 
cation to the i3epartment, in which a quotation is made from section 25 of the act of 
Congress approved June 28, 1898 (30 Stat., 495). as follows: 

"That before any allotment shall be made of lands in the Cherokee Nation there 
shall be segregated therefrom by the Commission heretofore mentioned, in separate 
allotments or otherwise, the one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundrecl acres 
purchased by the Delaware tribe of Indians from the Cherokee Nation under agree- 
ment of April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven." 

It is also stated that the agreement referred to provides as follows: 

"The selections of the lands to be purchased by the Delawares may be made by 
said Delawares in any part of the Cherokee Reservation east of said line 96 degrees 
not already selected and in possession of other parties." 

Said attorneys further state that " the Delawares have made their selection of the 
157,600 acres purchased by them and are now in possession of the same," and they 
request that the Department shall instruct your Commission " to survey and segre- 
gate in some proper and formal manner the 157,600 acres which the Delawares so 
selected and of which they are now in possession." 

They further state that they desire this to be done as early as possible, for the 
reason that they think it necessary that the survey and segregation mentioned in 
said act should precede the trial and judgment in the suit that they have recently 
brought against the Cherokee Nation under the provisions of said section. 

You are requested to advise the Department what action, in your judgment, should 
be taken with referent'e to said provision, when it is practicable to make said segre- 
gation, and any recommendation relative thereto which in your judgment seems best. 
Respectfully, 

Acting Secretarj/. 



Exhibit 15. 

Department of the Interior, 

Office of Indian Affairs, 

Washington, Novemher 20, 1899. 
The Secretary of the Interior. 

Sir: Referring to Department letter of November 4, 1899, addressed to the chair- 
man of the Dawes Commission, requesting said Commission to advise the Depart- 
ment what action, in their judgment, should l)e taken relative to the segregation 
of the 157,600 acres of land "purchased by the Delaware Indians from the Cher- 
okee Nation," there is transmitted herewith a report, dated November 13, 1899, 
from the acting chairman of said Commission, in whit-h it is stated that the Commis- 
sion is required to make rolls of citizenshii) of the Cherokee Indians; that such rolls 
will, of course, inchule the Delawares; that before such rolls can become final they 
must be approved by the Secretary of the Interior: that until such rolls are com- 
pleted it can hot be determined who are Cherokee citizens, nor can it be known what 
Delaware Indians are Cherokee citizens and entitled to participate in the benefits of 
the distribution of the property acquired umler the contract l)etween the Delawares 
and Cherokees; that the provision of the Curtis Act relative thereto makes it obliga- 
tory upon the Department to segregate said land "before any allotment shall be 
made of lands in the Cherokee nation;" that no allotment of Cherokee lands can be 
made until a roll of citizenship of said nation has been made and approved; that the 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 45 

Commii^pion will not beablf to make such rolls until during: the year 1900; tliat when 
such rolls have been made the Government will be prepared to begin the allotment 
of Cherokee lands, and also to segregate the lands alleged to have Ijeen j)urchased liy 
the Delawares under their agreement with the Cherokees; and that not until said 
rolls have been so made and apjjroved can the segregation of said lands be accom- 
plished. 

As it is presumed that the Department is desirous of obtaining the views of the 
Dawes Commission relative to this matter, the said report is submitteil without any 
discussion thereof by tliis office. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. A. Jones, Commisxioner. 



Exhibit 16. 

November 22, 1899. 
The Acting Chairman of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Muskogee, Jnd. T. 
Sir: The Department is in receipt of your communication of the 13th instant, 
referring to departmental letter of the 4th instant, relative to the segregation of the 
157,600 acres referred to in section 25 of the act of Congress approved June 28, 1898 
(30 Stat. L., 495), and stating that no allotment of the Cherokee lands can be made 
until the rolls of the Cherokee Nation shall have been completed and approved. 

The views expressed in your said communication are satisfactory to the Depart- 
ment, and you are so advised. 

Respectfully, AVebster Davis, Acting Secretary. 



Exhibit 17. 

February 27, 1901. 
The Secretary of the Interior, 

WasJtington, D. C. 
Sir: Inclosed in separate cover three maps, showing the location of the 157,600 
acres of land selected and in possession of the Delaware Indians, and which we 
wish to have segregated by the Dawes Commission as provided by the twentj'-lifth 
section of the act of Congress known as the Curtis bill and the Cherokee agreement. 
Please forward one copy of these maps to the Dawes Commission for their use and 
reference. These maps are true copies of the one on file with the Court of Claims. 
If you need other copies, I can furnish them to you. 

I am, yours, respectfully, Richard C. Adams, 

Representing the Delaware Indians. 



Exhibit 18, 

commission to the five civilized tribes. 

Muslogee, Ind. T., March 23, 1901. 
The Secretary of the Interior. 

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt by Departmental reference of March 
2d of a letter from Richard C. Adams, dated February 27, together with a map of 
the Cherokee Nation, showing by coloration the lands which said Adams ivprej^ents 
to be now in the possession of Delavvare Indians, and which they wish to have segre- 
gated by this Commission, as provided by section 25 of the act of Congress June 28, 
1898, and the pending Cherokee agreement. 

In response to the Department's request for a report and recommendation in the 
premises, I have to state that the Commission is not advised whether said Richard 
C. Adams is authorized to represent the Delawares in the matter of segregating their 
lands, and whether, therefore, the lands designated are the lands desired by the Del- 
awares or not. Granting that he is the duly accredited rejjresentative of the Dela- 
ware Indians, the Commission should in due time V)e furnished with a list of the 
lands which it is desired to have segregated, described by legal subdivisions. 

Section 25 of the act of Congress referred to provides as follows: 

"That before any allotment shall 1)e made of lands in the Cherokee Nation there 
shall be segregated therefrom by the Commission heretofore mentioned, in separate 



46 MEMORIAL OP^ THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

allotments or otherwise, the one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred acres 
purchased by the Delaware tribe of Indians from the Cherokee Nation under agree- 
ment of April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, subject to the judicial deter- 
mination of the rights of said descendants and the Cherokee Nation under said agree- 
ment; that the Delaware Indians residing in the Cherokee Nation are hereby 
authorized and empowered to bring suit in the Court of Claims of the United States 
within sixty days after the passage of this act, against the Cherokee Nation, for the 
purpose of determining the rights of said Delaware Indians in and to the lands and funds 
of said nation under their contract and agreement with the Cherokee Nation dated 
April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and jurisdiction is conferred on said 
court to adjudicate and fully determine the same, with right of appeal to either party 
to the Supreme Court of the United States." 

The Commission is not yet ready to allot the lands of the Cherokees and will not 
begin making allotments, in all probability, until the roll of Cherokee citizens shall 
have been completed or legislation be enacted other than that which now governs 
allotment in the Cherokee Nation. It is therefore not essential that the Commis- 
sion segregate the lands at this time in order to fulfill the reiiuirements of the statute 
with respect to segregating the lands prior to allotment. The indications are that 
considerable time will yet elapse before the Commission will be in readiness to allot 
the lands of the Cherokees. 

Furthermore, unfler the provisions of the act above quoted, the lands claimed by 
the Dela wares are to be segregated " subject to a judicial determination of the rights 
of said descendants and the Cherokee Nation under said agreement." A judicial 
determination of the rights of the parties '"n interest has thus far not been reached 
by the Court of Claims, wherein suit was instituted, and a recognition of the Dela- 
wares' claim to 157,600 acres should not, therefore, precede such determination. 

Inasmuch as the lands of the Cherokees have been surveyed, a mere segregation of 
the land claimed would involve no act on the part of the Commission other than to 
withhold the same from general allotment, and should allotment in the Cherokee 
Nation therefore be reached while the suit is yet pending the Commission may, in its 
opinion, properly reserve the 157, 600 acres pending a decision by the Court of Claims, 
provided that an accurate and authentic description of the lands claimed by the 
Delawares be furnished it. 

Very respectfully, Tams Bixby, 

Acting Ch'iirman. 

(Through the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. ) 



Exhibit 19. 

Department of the Interior, 

Office of Indian Affairs, 

WasJdngton, April 3, 1901. 
The Secretary of the Interior. 

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a report made on March 23, 1901, l)y 
the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, acknowledging receipt, by departmental 
reference of March 2, 1901, of a letter from Richard C. Adams, dated February 27, 
with a map of the Cherokee Nation, showing by coloration the lands which Mr. 
Adams represented to be now in the possession of Delaware Indians and which they 
wish to have segregated by the Commission as provided bv section 25 of the act of 
Congress of June 28, 1898. 

The Commission quotes section 25 of the act of Congress above referred to, which 
is as follows: 

"Sec. 25. That before any allotment shall be made of lands in the Cherokee 
Nation there shall be segregated therefrom by the Commission heretofore mentioned, 
in separate allotments or otherwise, the one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six 
hundred acres purchased by the Delaware tribe of Indians from the Cherokee Nation 
under agreement of April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, subject to the 
judicial determination of the rights of said descendants and the Cherokee Nation 
under said agreement. That the Delaware Indians residing in the Cherokee Nation 
are hereby authorized and empowered to bring suit in the Court of Claims of the 
United States, within sixty days after the passage of this act, against the Cherokee 
Nation, for the purpose of determining the rights of said Delaware Indians in and to 
the lands and funds of said nation under their contract and agreement with the 
Cherokee Nation datetl Aj)ril eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven; or the 
Cherokee Nation may bring a like suit against said Delaware Indians; and jurisdic- 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 47 

tion is conferred on said court to adjudicate and fully determine the same, with ri<.dit 
of appeal to either party to the Supreme Court of the Uniteil States." 
and states that it is not ready to allot the lands of the Cherokee and will not begin 
making the allotments in all lirohability until the roll of the Cherokee shall have 
been completeil, or until legislation is enacted other than that which now governs 
iillotments in the Cherokee Nation; that it is therefore not essential that the lands 
in the possession of the Delawares be segregated at this time; and that tlie indica- 
tions are that considerable time will elapse before the Commission will be in readi- 
ness to allot the lands of the Cherokee. 

The Commission stated that under the provisions of the act above (juoted, the lands 
claimed by the Delawares are to be segregated, subject to a judicial determination of 
the rights of said descendants and the Cherokee Nation under said agreement; that 
a judicial determination of the rights of the ])arties in interest has thus far not l)een 
reached ])v the Court of Claims wherein suit was instituted; that a recognition of the 
Delawares' claim to lo7,()00 acres should not therefore precede such determination; 
that the lands of the Cherokee have been surveyed and a mere segregation of the 
land claimed by the Delawares would involve no act on the i)art of the Commission 
other than that of withholding the same from general allotment; and that should 
allotment in the Cherokee Nation be reached while suit is yet pending the Commis- 
sion may, in its opinion, properly reserve 157,600 acres pending a decision of the 
Court of Claims, provided that an accurate and authentic description of the land 
claimed by the Delawares is furnished to it. 

Congress has directed that b57,600 acres of the Cherokee lands be segregated before 
any allotments are made to citizens of that nation. The Department and the Com- 
mission have nothing to do with the effect which such segregation may have on the 
final determination of the suit authorized by Congress, and, indeed, it is not under- 
stood that the compliance by the Connuission with the statutory direction would in 
anywise prejudice the rights of either party in interest. 

This office has no means of ascertaining the necessity, if any there be, of segregat- 
ing the said Delaware lands at this time. Neither does it understand that any neces- 
sity exists for such action. So far as is known, the Delawares are occupying the 
lands claimed by them without restriction or objection on the part of the Cherokee, 
and unless some good reason be shown to the contrary, the Commission should be 
allowed to exercise its sound discretion as to the time when the segregation contem- 
plated should be made, it being understood, of course, that no allotments will be 
made to the Cherokee prior to the segregation of the Delaware lands. It is respect- 
fully recommended that Mr. Adams and the Commission be advised as above indi- 
cated, and attention is respectfully invited to ofhce report of November 20, 1899, 
which transmitted without discussion a re]5ort made by the said Commission on 
iS'ovember 13, 1899, relative to the same subject-matter. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. A. Jones, Commls><ioner. 



Exhibit 20. 



April 8, 1901. 



The Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Muscogee, Lid. T. 

Gentlemen: The Department is in receipt of your communication of March 23, 
1901, reporting upon a letter from Eichard C. Adams, dated February 27, 1901, rela- 
tive to the segregation of 157,600 acres of Delaware lands in the Cherokee Nation. 

The Commissioner of Indian Affairs forwarded your report April 3, and concurred 
in your recommendations. 

The Department has this day advised Mr. Adams of its approval of your views in 
the premises. 

Respectfully, Thos. Ryan, Acting Secretary. 



Exhibit 21. 

Department ok the Interior, 

]Va><hington, Aprils, lUOl. 
Mr. Richard C. Adams, 

Kellogg Building, Washington, D. C. 
Sir: The Dei)artment is in receipt of a report from the Connuission to the Five 
Civilized Tribes upon your letter dated Fel)ruary 27, transmitting a niaj) of the 
Cherokee Nation showing by coloration the lands which you represent to be now in 



48 MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

possession of Delaware Indians, and which they desire to have segregated by the 
Commission, as provided by section 25 of tlie act of Congress approved June 28, 1898. 
(30 Stat. L.,495.) 

The Commission quotes section 25 of said act, and states that it is not yet ready to 
allot the lands of the Cherokee, and will not begin making allotments in all proba- 
biUty until the roll of Cherokee citizens shall have been completed or legislation be 
enacted other than that which now governs allotments in the Cherokee Nation; that 
it is not essential that the Commission segregate the lands at this time in order to fulfill 
the requirements of the statute with respect to segregating the lands prior to allot- 
ment, and that the indications are that consideral)le time will yet elapse before the 
Commission will be in readiness to allot the lands of the Cherokee. 

The Commission further reports that since the lands of the Cherokee Nation have 
been surveyed, any segregation of the lands claimed \\ould involve no act on the 
part of the Commission other than to withhold the san^e from general allotment; and 
should the Commission be ready to allot the lands in the Cherokee Nation while the 
suit is pending between said nation and the Delawares, it could properly reserve the 
157,600 acres, pending a final decision of said suit, "provided that an accurate and 
authentic description of the lands claimed. by the Delawares be furnished it." 

The Commissioner of Indian Affairs forwarded said report on April 3, 1901, and 
recommends that you be advised that "the Commission should be allowed to exer- 
cise its sound discretion as to the time when the segregation contemplated should be 
made, it being understood, of course, that no allotments will be made to the Chero- 
kee prior to the segregation of the Delaware lands." 

The Department concurs in the views expressed by the Commission and the Com- 
missioner of Indian Affairs, and incloses herewith a copy of the report of the Commis- 
sioner for your information. 

Respectfully, Tiios. Ryan, Acting Secretary. 



Exhibit 22. 

Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Muscogee, Iitd. T., September 25, 1902. 
Notice is hereby given that the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, will on 
January 1, 1903, at Vinita, Ind. T., establish an office for the allotment of the lands 
of the Cherokee Nation to the citizens of that tribe, in accordance with the provisions 
of the act of Congress approved July 1, 1902, entitled "An act to provide for the allot- 
ment of the lands of the Cherokee Nation, for the disposition of town sites therein, 
and for other purposes." 

Such office will V)e maintained at Vinita until April 30, 1903. 

Beginning May 4, 1903, the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes will establish 
an office at Tahlequah, Ind. T., for the allotment of the lands of the Cherokee 
Nation to the citizens of that tribe in accordance with the act of Congress above 
referred to, such office to be continued indefinitely. 

Tams Bixby, Acting Chairman, 

T. B. Needles, Commissioner, 

C. R. Bkeckenridge, Commissioner, 

Comviission to the Five Cimlized Tribes. 



Exhibit 23. 

Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Muscogee, Ind. T., September 27, 1902. 
RiCH.\RD C. Adams, 

Bond Building, Washington, D. C. 
Dear Sir: The Commission is in receipt of your letter of September 23, requesting 
a copy of the Delaware roll of citizens of the Cherokee Nation, as prepared by this 
Commission. 

In reply, you are advised that the roll being prepared by this Commission, of the 
Delaware citizens of the Cherokee Nation, has not been completed, and it is there- 
fore impossible to comply with your request. 

Respectfully, Tams Bixby, Acting Chairman. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 49 

Exhibit 24. 

Commission to tiik Five Civilizkd Tribes, 

Muscogee, Lid. T., OctoherS, 1902. 
EiCHARD C. Adams, 

Bond Building, Washington, D. C. 
Dear Sir: The Commission is in receipt of your letter of the 30th ultimo, ie(|uest- 
insr list of those Delaware Indians against whose enrollment no contest or objection 
has been entered, or in lien thereof, that you be furnished witii the three books you 
suiii>lied the Commission, the Delaware pay roll, and the certilied copy of the Dela- 
ware retrister. 

In reply, you are advised that Mr. Green, of the Commission, will meet you at 
Dewey, Ind. T., on the loth of October, with the books requested, as it will be 
impossil)le for the Commission to furnish you with the list of those Delawares a<j;ainat 
whose enrollment no contest or objection has been entered. 
Respectfully, 

Tams Bixby, Acting Chdirnuin. 



Exhibit 25. 

Minutes of the council of the Delaware Indians residing in the Cherokee Nation, held at 
Dewey, in said nation, on tlie loth day of Octoher, 1902, pumrnvnt to a notice didy given 
in accordance iritJi the customs of the tribe, and also pidj/l.-ihi'd for two weeks in the Dewey 
Globe neivspaper, a newspaper in gencrcd circulation in said nation. 

More than a majority of the adult members of said band of Delaware Indians, havinji; 
met pursuant to said notice, the meeting was called to order by John Young, who 
stated the object of the meeting. Colonel Jackson, being nominated for chair- 
man, and a vote being taken, he was declared elected. I. X. Journeycake, being 
nominated for secretary, a vote was taken and he was declared duly elected. The 
meeting then proceeded to the transaction of the business for which it had been called, 
and addresses w ere made by James Wilson, John Young, and Richard C. Adams, and 
interpreted by John Willey. 

The following resolution was then presented by John Young, who moved its adop- 
tion. The motion being seconded l)y George Bullette, and a vote being taken, the 
resolution was unanimously adopted. 

Col. Jackson (his x mark). 
I. N. Journeycake, Secretary. 
Witness to mark — 
John R. Willey. 
H. M. Adams. 

Whereas by virtue of the agreement of April 8, 1867, between the Delaware tribe 
of Indians and the Cherokee Xation, the Delawares became lawfully possessed of 
certain rights, privileges, and benefits, which .said Cherokee have for a long time 
neglected and refused to recognize, and which the Government of the United States 
has failed to secure and protect, as it was in duty bound to do under the provisions 
and guarantees of the treaties between the United States and the Delaware Nation of 
July, 1866, and the United States and the Cherokee Nation of July, 1866, and particu- 
larly the fourth and fifth articles of the former and the fifteenth article of the latter, 
under the authority and provisions of Avhich the Delawares entered into their 
said agreement with the Cherokee Nation of 1867; and 

Whereas by reason of said neglect and refusal of the Cherokee Nation to recognize 
the just and lawful rights of said Delawares, and the neglect of the United States 
Government to maintain and safeguard such rights as it had guaranteed to do as 
aforesaid, it became necessary for the Delaware Indians to take such action in their 
own behalf as would, so far as lay in their ])Ower, maintain and protect their said 
rights and interests ; and 

Whereas to that end the authorities of the Delaware tribe, reposing great faith and 
confidence in the ability and integrity of Richard C. Adams and .John Bullette, granted 
to them such provisional powers and authority as they then jtossessed to at once 
take up their cause> secure the assistance of such counsel as they might deem 
advi.sable, and to do and perform all things that in their judgment were, for the time 
being, requisite in order to protect such rights and interests, providing and agreeing 

S. Doc. 16 i 



50 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

that thereafter a formal and proper provision should be made for the payment of just 
and satisfactory compensation for such services; and ■ 

Whereas pursuant to such provisional authority, said Adams and BuUette at once 
proceeded to Washington and there made representations to [Congress and to the 
various departments of the Government respecting the rights, claims, and just dues of 
said Delawares, and through their efforts secured the insertion in what is known as 
the Curtis Act, of the twenty-fifth section thereof, providing for tlie submission of 
the claims of the Delaware Indians to the Court of Claims for determination, and 
did at their own expense secure skilled and able counsel and cause to ])e instituted 
in said court a suit wherein the various claims of the Delaware Indians arising out of 
their contract with the Cherokee of 1867 are to be finally adjudicated, and did, by 
devoting their time, energy, and means thereto, comijile a complete register of the 
Delaware Indians, including descriptions of the lands occupied and claimed by each 
under said agreement of 1867, and did at great expense provide for and cause to be 
taken all necessary testimony in said cause, and did provide for and cause the prejoa- 
ration of the record in said case, consisting of more than 480 printed pages (see 
record Delaware case, pp. 1 to 480, inclusive) , and have by their energy, perseverance 
and skill, and at great outlay of money, prepared such case for hearing in said court 
at its approaching session; and 

Whereas in contemplation and consideration of such services, and in order to pro- 
vide means whereby such services already performed and the further services required 
to be performed in the premises on behalf of the Delaware people Vjy said Adams and 
BuUette might be properly and lawfully secured to them, the Delaware people in 
general council duly assembled did on July 29, 1898, pass an act authorizing, empow- 
ering, and directing George BuUette, John Young, John Sarcoxie, jr., Henry Arm- 
strong, and John Secondyne, members of said Delaware tribe, and at the time 
constituting its business committee, to enter into a formal contract with said Adams 
and BuUette on behalf of the Delaware tribe of Indians, authorizing and empower- 
ing said Adams and BuUette to "institute and prosecute to final determination in the 
United States Court of Claims and the Supreme Court of the United States, as pro- 
vided in the act of Congress approved June 28, 1898, and to represent the Delaware 
Indians before the various departments of the United States, committees of Congress 
of the United States, before the Dawes Commission, or before any triljunal, agent, or 
commission of the United States Government where the interests of the Delaware 
people are involved, and to authorize said attorneys to employ such counsel, aid, or 
assistance as in their judgment may be necessary, and to negotiate an interest in the 
fee herein provided for. 

"That said Richard C. Adams and John BuUette shall diligently prosecute the 
claims of the Delaware Indians, more specifically set out in the following items: 

"/Cem 1. — All the rights of the Delaware Indians under the agreement entered into 
between the Delaware Indians and the Cherokee Nation, dated April 8, 1867, 
involving — 

"(a) The segregation and allotment of the lands of the registered Delawares under 
said agreement. 

"(/j) The determination and the allotment of the rights of the deceased registered 
Delawares under said agreement. 

"(c) The allotment to all of the Delawares of their share of the residue of the 
Cherokee national lands. 

"(d) The distribution to all of the Delawares of their share of the Cherokee 
national fund. 

^'Item 2. — The claim of the Delaware Indians for any balances due on account of 
funds invested for the Delawares by the United States Government in stocks and 
bonds which have not been fully accounted for to the satisfaction of the Delawares. 

"/ton 3. — The claim of the Delaware Indians for balances which may be due them 
from the United States in a final and full accounting for lands sold to the Government 
by the Delawares, or sold bv the Government for the Delawares, under treaties of 
1818, 1828, 1882, 1860, 1861, and 1866, or any other treaties or laws which will be 
more specifically set out upon filing the claim. 

''Item 4. — Claim of the Delawares for certain lands sold by the Delawares in the 
State of Kansas to the Wyandotte Indians under agreement of 1848, involving about 
36 sections of land, more or less. 

" Item n. — Claim for certain lands leased by the Delaware Indians on the Delaware 
River during the colonial ])eriod, which land the Delaware Indians never conveyed. 

" Item (i. — Claim for pay for 4 sections of land in tlie State of Kansas sold to the 
Christian Indians under tiie treaty of 1854, at §2.50 per acre, amounting to $6,400. 

''Item 7. — The claim for the laud known as Diamond Island, in the Missouri River, 
containing 430 acres, more or less, for which, under the treaty of 1866, the Delawares 
should have received $2.50 per ai-re. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 51 

^^ Item 8. — Claim of the Delawares for their interest, together with the Shawnees, in 
the Carondalet grant, lying between the River St. Coure and Cajte (iiranleau, in the 
State of Missouri, under date of January 4, ITHa, and referred to in the treaties with 
the Delawares and Shawnees of 1S32. 

"The persons appointed and elected under this act to employ attorneys and to 
enter into contract with said Richard C. Adams and John Bullette, shall contract for 
their compensation for their services heretofore rendered and to l)e rendered, and 
for the reimbursement for money already expended in this behalf, as follows: 

"1. A fee of 6^ per cent of the lands allotted to the registered Delawares under 
the agreement of April 8, IStJT, with the right to select and locate the same, or a fee 
equal to ti] per cent of the value thereof, as a retainer in representing said registered 
Delawares in the matter of their. communal interest in lands and funds of the Chero- 
kee Nation, which are involved in the suit authorized by act of Congress, approved 
June 28, 1898. 

"2. A fee of 18| per cent of such lands as may be recovered under the rights of 
the deceased registered Delawares or their heirs under the agreement of April 8, 1867, 
■which rights are involved in the suit authorized by act of Congress, approved June 
28, 1898, with the privilege of selecting and loc^ating the same, or a fee ecjual to 18| 
per cent of the value thereof. 

"3. A fee of 10 per cent for such money as may be recovered by the Delaware 
Indians from the Cherokee Nation over and above the $121,824.28 originally paid by 
the said Delawares into the Cherokee national fund for a communal interest in the 
lands and funds of the Cherokee Nation. 

"4. A fee not to exceed 35 per cent for all lands and money recovered from the 
United States, or individual citizens thereof, under any of the treaties and laws of 
the United States, referred to hereinbefore. 

''Provided, That the said George Bullette, John Young, John Sarcoxie, jr., Henry 
Armstrong, and John Secondyne shall estimate the amount of land due under the 
foregoing provisions to the said Richard C. Adams and John Bullette, and shall exe- 
cute such papers for and on behalf of the registered Delawares, and for and on behalf 
of the Delaware Indians, general and individual, as will secure to said Adams and 
Bullette their fees, as herein provided." 

Which said act of the Delaware council was approved by the United States agent 
for the Union Agency on the 12th day of August, 1898, and 

Whereas on the 29th day of August, 1898, at Nowata, Ind. T., the business com- 
mittee of the Delaware Indians did estimate the amount of lands due to the said 
Richard C. Adams and John Bullette, under the provisions of the contract entered 
into by and between the said Adams and Bullette and the Delaware Imsiness com- 
mittee and the Delaware council, and did issue to the said Adams and Bullette a 
certificate, which in part reads as follows: 

' ' It is herel)y certified that after due consideration of the terms of said contract, 
dated August 4, 1898, that the amount of lands due from the registered Delawares as 
a retainer is 2,120 acres, and the amount due from the heirs or successors of the 
deceased registered Delawares, payable from the lands which would have been 
allotted to the deceased registered Delawares if they were living, is 23,480, aggregating 
25,600." 

Whereas pursuant to said authority and in conformity to the law in such cases 
provided, the persons mentioned in said act, being the business committee of the 
Delaware tribe, and acting for and on behalf of said tribe, did on the 4th day of 
August, 1898, enter into a certain contract with said Richard C. Adams and John 
Bullette, upon the terms and conditions as set out in the act of the Delaware council, 
already fully referred to herein; and 

Whereas in order to more fully carry out the purposes and intentions of this peo- 
ple and to confirm to said Richard C. Adams and John Bullette all the rights and 
powers designed and intemled to be conferred upon them, a fuither contract was 
entered into in October, 1898, essentially corresponding in all its terms to the said 
contract of August 4, 1898, and also confirming to said Adams and Bullette the com- 
pensation set out and referred to in said act of the Delaware council, which said 
contract of October, 1898, was executed in duplicate on behalf of the Delaware peo- 
ple by each of the registered Delawares then living, individually, and by the heirs or 
legal representatives of those who were dead (a copy of which saiil contract is now 
on file in the Court of Claims as a i)art of the record in the case of the Delaware 
Indians, etc., r. The Cherokee Nation); and 

Whereas the Delaware people realize that without the services of the said Adams 
and Bullette they would have been unable to have maintained and protected their 
rights under the'said agreement of 1867, and believing, as they do, that they have 
been honestly, faithfully, and ably represented, and that said Adams and Bullette 



52 MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

have done and performed every act and thing that was necessary and proper to be 
dene in order to present, maintain, and defend the rights of these people, and it 
being their wish, as it has at all times been since the employment began, that the 
said Adams and Bullette should be recognized by the Government of the United 
States as the duly constituted representatives and attorneys in fact of these people in 
and about all of the matters, interests, and claims herein already referred to, and 
that they, the said Adams and Bullette, should receive full and fair compensation for 
their time, services, and advancements: Therefore, in further confirmation of all the 
rights and powers heretofore delegated to said Adams and Bullette, be it 

Remlved hi/ the Dekurare ludknis in (jenerul council ansernblcd, That the acts of the 
representatives of these people in conferring upon said Adams and Bullette provi- 
sional powers of representation, and the acts of the business committee of this tribe 
in the execution of said contract of August 4, 1898, be, and the same are hereby, rati- 
fied and confirmed, and all of the acts of said Adams and Bullette done and per- 
formed on behalf of the Delaware Indians by virtue of such authority are hereby 
ratified and confirmed as fully to all intents and purposes as if their said acts had 
been done and performed by these people in general council assembled in their own 
behalf; that said provisional authority, the contract of August 4, 1898, and the con- 
tract of Octol)er 11, 1898, are hereby reathrmed and ratified to the full extent of the 
powers of this council and of the Delaware people; that all the selections of lands 
made and set out in the exhibits attached to the testimony of Horace Adams, being 
a part of the record in the case of the Delaware Indians v. The Cherokee Nation in 
the Court of Claims, and being further referred to in said contract of October 11, 1898, 
are herebj^ declared to be our selections for the purposes therein contemplated and 
are hereby approved, ratified, and confirmed; that the selections of lands made by 
said Adams and Bullette as and for their part compensation for the services and 
advancements made by them, as herein already described, are hereby approved, 
ratified, and confirmed; that the acts of the said business committee of the Dela- 
ware Indians in estimating the lands due to the said Adams and Bullette as and for 
their part compensation for services in this behalf, and in issuing therefor their cer- 
tificate dated the 29th day of August, 1898, be, and the same are hereby, ratified, 
approved, and confirmed, and the Government of the United States and all of its 
departments and officers, commissions, and commissioners appointed under authority 
of law are hereby requested to recognize the said contracts in their entirety and to 
give full faith and credit to said Adams and Bullette as the duly authorized and 
accredited agents and attorneys in fact of the Delaware tribe in all matters mentioned 
and described in any of said contracts and in and to the matters involved in said suit 
in the Court of Claims between the Delaware Indians ami the Cherokee Nation. 

And be it further resolved, That George Bullette, John Young, John Sarcoxie, jr. , 
Henry Armstrong, and John Secondyne, constituting the Delaw-are business commit- 
tee, be, and they are hereby, authorized, directed, and instructed to go before a judge 
of some court of record and there enter into a contract, in conformity with the United 
States Statutes in such cases provided, with Richard C. Adams and John Bullette to 
represent the Delaware Indians in connection with any claims that the Delawares 
may have against the United States arising under or in virtue of any unfulfilled 
treaty stipulations between the said Delaware Indians and the United States, and 
more particularly set out and described in Senate Document No. 349, Fifty-seventh 
Congress, first session, and the claims already herein set out, and cause suit to be 
instituted in the Court of Claims of the United States on behalf of the Delaware 
tribe, under the provisions of section 68 of the act of Congress approved July 1, 1902, 
entitled "An act to provide for the allotment of lands of the Cherokee Nation," etc. 
(Public — No. 241), and to grant unto said Richard C. Adams and John Bullette all 
the powers in the said behalf that the Delaware Indians would possess if acting for 
themselves. The said committee is hereby authorized to provide in such contract for 
compensation to be paid to said Richard C. Adams and John Bullette, not to exceed 35 
per cent of all lands, moneys, or other thing or things of value that may be recovered 
for or on account of said Delaware Indians in any of the Departments of the United 
States Government or ))efore Congress or any commission appointed thereby, or in 
any coiirt of the United i^tates where the rights of said Indians under said claims 
may be tried and adjudicated, and whether paid in money to said Delaware Indians, 
expended or invested for their benefit, and authorizing and directing the jiroper 
officers of the United States to de<luct from any amount that may be recovered and 
pay to Richard C. Adams and John Bullette the amount which may be stipulated 
and i)rovided in said agreement. The contract which the said business connnittee are 
herein authorized and directed to execute with the said Richard C. Adams and John 
Bullette is in no way to impair or abridge the contracts of August 4, 1898, and Octo- 
ber 11, 1898, hereinbefore i-eferred to, but it is to confirm and ratify these contracts 
and extend the time of their autlHjrity and their performance. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 53 

A')i(l be it resolved further, That a copy of these resokitions may be filed with the 
Commission to the Five Civihzed Tribes and that a copy thereof be attaclied to each 
of the tripHcate copies when executed. 

Col. Jackson (his x mark), Chairman. 
I. N. JouRNEYC.\KE, Secretary. 
Witnesses to mark: 

John H. Secoxdyxe, 
John R. Willey. 
I, J. Blair Shoenfeh, United States Indian agent, Union Agency, Ind. T.. certify 
that I was unable to be present at a meeting of the council of the Delaware Indians 
residing in the Cherokee Nation, held at Dewey, in said nation, on October 15, 1902, 
although requested to be present at said meeting of said council by ]\Ir. Richard C. 
Adams. 

I further certify that to the best of my knowledge and belief said meeting of said 
council of said Delaware tribe of Indians was actually held at Dewey on the 15th 
day of October, 1902, and that the attached papers represent and are a true re[iort of 
the doings and resolutions of said council while in session on the date mentioned. 

J. Blair Siioenfelt, 

United States Indian Agent. 



f]XHIBIT 26. 

October 15, 1902. 

Resolved, That the Delaware Indians in general council assembled desire to 
express to the Government of the United States their most earnest and vigorous jiro- 
test against the allotment of the lands in the Cherokee Nation unless and until ade- 
quate and just provision shall be first made for the protection of the rights and claims 
of the Delaware Indians, as set out and jiarticularly described in the petition filed in 
the Court of Claims in the case of the Delaware Indians v. The Cherokee Nation. 

In doing this we wish to call attention to the fact that the Delawares sold their 
homes in Kansas and with the proceeds of said sale purchased lands and ecjual rights 
of citizenship in the C'lierokee Nation, at the solicitation and request of tlie United 
States authorities and under its most solemn pledges of full and complete protection 
in all their personal and property rights; that they were enjoined to become indus- 
trious and thrifty, and to be an example of prosperity to their neighbors ami surround- 
ing people. In conformity with the long history of friendihii) of the Delawares for 
the whites and for the Government, they began at once earnestly and industriously 
the work of making faruis and homes, an<I how well they have succeeded is a matter 
of history of the country. As long ago as 1890 the United States Indian agent, in a 
communication to the liepartment, referring to the snl)ject, said: 

"Among the Delawares nearly every farmer of any i)retension has an orchard. 
Among them we find some of the best merchants, and there are mills of various kinds 
owned by them in the different settlements. Their houses are, for the most part, well 
built and substantial, and their fences, outhouses, and other improvements are well 
taken care of. No one who has visited the Delaware settlement could fail to note the 
fact that they are among the most thrifty and intelligent Indians in the entire Indian 
country." 

When later, in 1891, the Government consented to capitalize and pay to the Dela- 
wares their invested funds a condition was coupled therewith that the funds so paid 
should be invested in improven)ents and stock, and in order to determine whether 
the Delawares were in good faith carrying out this provi.-ion, one-half of the fund 
only was distri1)uted at the first payment — $4 . 

When the United States Indian agent was directed to report as to how nuich of said 
fund had been so used he found that their stock and imjirovements amounted to 
more than S()50,000 (see letter of Leo K. Bennett, United States Indian agent, of 
April 12, 1890, and schedules attached), whereupon the balance of said fund was dis- 
tributed, and was in like manner and good faith ex} ended in improvements on their 
lands and homes. 

Thus it will be seen that the extensive improvements made by the Delawares have 
not only been fostered and encouraged by the Government and by the Department 
of the "interior, but that we have, in a nieasure, been compelled to exjtend these 
large sums in improving the lands occupied and claimed by us. A large part of the,«e 
improvements are upon lands in excess of the 157,000 acres purcha.>^ed by the Dela- 
wares from the Cherokee Nation under the agreement of 1807, and are upon lands 
due to us, as we claim, under and by virtue of our purchase of eijual rights of citizen- 
ship in the Cherokee Nation. If our claim in this re.'^pect is just,- as we believe it is, 



54 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

aud if it shall be sustained in the suit now pending and herein referred to, it would 
be manifestly unjust that these lands, which Ave have improved at great outlay of 
our personal means and at the request and even dictation of the United States, should 
not 136 so secured that in the tinal adjustment and allotment we may have the oppor- 
tunity, as other citizens of the Cherokee Nation have, of selecting the lands ujjoa 
which our improvements have been made. 

We are not asking that the action of the courts may be anticipated in our favor. 
All that we request is that such action may not be anticipated to our detriment, and 
that our improved lands so' claimed by us may be either provisionally allotted to us 
or that the same may be reserved from selection and allotment by others until such 
time as the courts to which this question has been referred for final adjudication 
shall have passed upon the question of our rights thereto. 

The suggestion here made is one that looks only to justice to all parties, and can 
in no way work a wrong to any. To deny this request would result in irremediable 
hardship, loss, and wrong, without necessity, and, as we would be constrained to 
feel, wantonly, upon a people who never committed an overt act against the Gov- 
ernment of the United States, but who, at all times and under the most trying cir- 
cumstances, have preserved their obligations, their loyalty, and their friendship. 

Resolved, That the secretary of this meeting be, and he is, instructed to deliver 
copies of this resolution to the Secretary of the Interior and to the Dawes Commis- 
sion at Muskogee, and that they then be requested to reply to the same, addressing 
such communications as they may make to Richard C. Adams and John Bullette, 
attorneys and representatives of the Delaware Indians, care of Richard C. Adams, 
Bond Building, Washington, D. C. 

Col. (his x mark) Jackson, Chairman. 
I. N. JouRNEYCAKE, Secretary. 

Witness to mark: 

John R. Willey. 
A. H. Norwood. 



Exhibit 27. 

Muscogee, Ind. T., October 20, 1902. 
The Secretary' of the Interior. 

Sir: Receipt is hereby acknowledged of a connnunication from Walter S. Logan, 
dated October 2, 1902, relating to allotments of land in the Cherokee Nation to the 
Delaware Indians, which was referred by the Departuient to this Commission for 
consideration, report, and recommendation on October 6, 1902. 

After calling attention to the issues involved in the suit of the Delaware Indians 
against the Cherokee Nation, now pending in the Court of Claims, and giving the 
present status of the case, INIr. Logan states: 

"We ask of the Department of the Interior that no distribution or allotment be 
made of the (Cherokee lands until the tinal determination of the suit in the Court of 
Claims, unless the rights of the Delawares as claimed in their petition in the suit in 
the Court of Claims l)e in every way protected. 

"Such rights will not l)e protected unless — 

"1. The 157,600 acres which the Delawares claim to own by virtue of their pur- 
chase of the same and payment therefor l)e first segregated and set apart, so that no 
distribution or allotment of the same shall be made. 

"2. Unless each Delaware have the same opportunity as each Cherokee to select 
and segregate — subject to the future determination of the court — such lands as under 
the Delawares' claims he is entitled to as a Cherokee citizen and outside of the 157,600 
acres of land purchased by the Delawares. 

"If the Delawares were not allowed to make their selections at the same time that 
the Cherokees made theirs, the Delaware citizen of the Cherokee Nation would be at 
a disadvantage conq>ared with the Cherokee, in that in case the decision of the 
Court of Claims is in favor of the Delawares he could only take such lands as had 
been left after the Cherokees had made their selection. The Delaware should have 
the same right to select what he considers the choicest lands as the Cherokee has. 
No distinction should be made between them so far as such selection is concerned. 

"The Delawares, by virtue of moneys heretofore paid to them by the United 
States in consideration of lands which they gave up at the time, have been in pos- 
session of consideral)le funds and have used those funds under the advice of the 
Secretary in inq)roving lauds which tliey selected and whicli they have made their 
homes in the Indian Territory. Their improvements cover far more than the 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 55 

157,600 acres. In fact, tliey cover not only the 157,600 acre*^, l)Ut nearly all tliey >vill 
receive in case the suit in the Court of Claims is decided in their favor as Cherokee 
citizens. Outside of the 157,600 acres purchased and i)aid for by the Delawares, the 
Cherokees are allowed to have priority in the selection of their lands. >hiny Dela- 
wares will be ousted from their homes and from the lands on which they have spent 
large sums of money for improvements, under the atlvice of your Department, and 
have no redress therefor. 

"I submit that all selections and allotments of land outside of the 157,600 acres be 
postponed until after the final determination of the suit in the Court of Claims, or 
that the Delawares should be allowed to make provisional selections — to hold good 
in case the suit is decided in their favor — at the same time that the Cherokees make 
their selections. 

"In this way the rights of all j)arties will be preserved. The Delawares will get 
what they are entitled to in case the suit is determineil in their favor; the Cherokees 
will lose no riglits which they [)Osse.«s." 

With reference to the proposition to delay the allotment of Cherokee lands "until 
the final determination of the suit in the Court of Claims," attention is invited to 
section 23 of the act of Congress approved July 1, 1902 (Public — No. 241), which is 
as follows: 

"Sec. 23. All Delaware Indians who are members of the Cherokee Nation shall 
take lands and share in the funds of the tribe, as their rights may be determined by 
the judgment of the Court of Claims, or by the Sui)reme Court if appealed, in the 
suit instituted therein by the Delawares against the Cherokee Nation, and now pend- 
ing; but if said suit he not determined before said Conunission is ready to begin the 
allotment of lands of the tribe as herein provided, the Commission shall cause to be 
segregated one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred acres of land, includ- 
ing lands which have been selected and occupied l)y Delawares in conformity to the 
provisions of their agreement with the Cherokees dated April eighth, eighteen hun- 
dred and sixty-seven, such lands so to remain, sul)ject to disposition aiH-ordiT)g to 
such judgment as may be rendered in said cause; and said Conunission shall there- 
upon proceed to the allotment of the remaining lands of the tribe as aforesaid. Said 
Commission shall, when final judgment is rendered, allot lands to such Delawares in 
conformity to the terms of the judgment and their individual rights thereunder. 
Nothing in this act shall in any manner impair the rights of either party to said con- 
tract as the same may be finally determined by the coiirt, or shall interfere with 
the holdings of the Delawares untler their c(mtract with the Cherokees of April 
eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, until their rights under said contract are 
determined by the courts in their suit now pending against the Cherokees, and said 
suit shall l)e advanced on the dockets of said courts and determined at the earliest 
time practicable." 

The language of said section clearly shows that the allotment of Cherokee lands 
was not to be delayed by the suit now pending in the Court of Claims, antl the rep- 
resentations made by Mr. Logan carry with them the certainty that if the decision 
of said court should be adverse to the Delawares, in any particular, a further recjuest 
for delay in allotment would be made by the Delawares on the ground that their 
rights had not yet been adjudicated by the Supreme Court, to which an appeal from 
the Court of Claims will lie. 

On the other hand, should the allotment be delayed on the request of the Del- 
awares until the case has been decided by the C^jurt of Claims, the Cherokee 
Nation, should the decision of said court be adverse to it, would be entitled to liave 
the allotment further delayed on its request in the expectation that the decision of 
the Supreme Court would he in its favor. 

Tbe Commission is of the opinion that the statute" above (juoti'd does not contem- 
plate an allotment to each Delaware of an amount of land etjual to the per capita siiare 
of each Cherokee in addition to the allotment wliich such Delaware will receive from 
the 157,600 acres to be segregated, pending the determination of said suit, and that to 
adopt the contrary view in proceeding with the Cherokee allotment would place at a 
serious disadvantage innumerable Cherokees who, unlike the Delawares. have neither 
improved lands nor homes of their own. 

The 157,600 acres of land to be segregated for the Delawares are to include lands 
heretofore selected, occupied, and improved by them, and upon which all of said 
Delawares are living, as is set forth on page 10 of their petition in the suit now pend- 
ing in the Court of Claims, as follows: 

" That thereui)on the said Delawares selected the said 157,600 acres of land from 
the said Cherokee Reservation east of line 96, not theretofore selected or in possession 
of other parties, entered into the occupancy and pos.'jession of the sami'. and made 
extensive and valualjle improvements thereon, and they, their children, descendants, 
heirs at law, and jiensonal rei>resentatives have continued to occuj)y and possess the 



56 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

said lands and the said improvements, and have continued to make extensive and 
valuable improvements thereon and to reside thereon down to the present time." 

Holding to the opinion that the Commission is without authority ol' law to make 
allotments to Delawares of the land not embraced in the segregation provided tor in 
the statute above quoted, and that the allotments to Cherokees should begin at the 
earliest date possible, the Commission believes, however, that upon the application 
of anj^ Delaware citizen there should be reserved from allotment until the final 
determination of the suit of the Delawares against the Cherokees only such lands 
not embraced in said segregation and not exceeding land equal in value to 110 acres 
of average allottable lands of the Cherokee Nation as contains permanent and valu- 
ble improvements owned by such Delaware citizen. 

Such a course would, in the opinion of the Commission, fully protect the rights of 
all Delawares in and to all improved lands held by them on August 7, 1902, the date 
of the ratification of the act of Congress approved July 1, 1902 (Public — No. 241 ), and 
would not interfere with the selection of allotments from the unimproved public 
domain by Cherokee citizens. 

Mr. Logan's letter of October 2, 1902, is herewith inclosed. 

Respectfully submitted. 

, Acting Chairman. 

, Commissioner. 

, Commissioner. 

(Through the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.) 



Exhibit 28. 

Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, 

WashiiKjtoa, November 22, 1902. 
The Secretary of the Interior. 

Sir: There is inclosed herewith a report from the Commission to the Five Civilized 
Tribes, dated October 20, 1902, relative to the requests of Walter S. Logan, attorney 
for the Delawares in their suit against the Cherokee Nation, contained in his letter of 
October 2, 1902, which was referred by the Deimrtment to the Commission for report 
and recommendation on October 6 last. 

Mr. Logan in his communication states that he does not ask the Department to 
prejudge the case in fa\or of his clients; that Congress has referred a determination 
of the rights of the respective parties to the court, and that it would be out of place 
for him to argue the same before the Department. 

In his letter Mr. Logan invites attention to the issues involved in the suit men- 
tioned, which is now pending in the Court of Claims, gives the present status of the 
case, and states: 

"We ask of the Department of the Interior that no distribution or allotment be 
made of the Cherokee lands until tln' final determination of the suit in the Court of 
Claims, unless the rights of the Delawares as claimed in their petition in the suit in 
the Court of Claims be in every way i)rotectetl. 

"Such right will not l)e protected unless — 

" 1. The 157,600 acres which the Delawares claim to own by virtue oi their pur- 
chase of the same and ijayment therefor be first segregated and set ai)art, so that no 
di,«tribution or allotment of the same shall be made. 

"2. Unless each Delaware have the same opportunity as each Cherokee to select 
and segregate — subject to the future determination of tlie court — such lands as under 
the Delawares' claim he is entitled to as a Cherokee citizen and outside of the 
157,600 ai'res of land ]mrchase(l by the Delawares. 

" If the Delawares were not allowed to make their selections at the same time that 
the Cherokees made theirs the Delaware citizen of the (. herokee Nation would be 
at a disadvantage compared to the Cherokee, in that in case the decision of the 
Court of Claims is in favor of the Delawares he would only take such land as had 
been left after the Cherokees had made their selection. The Delaware should have 
the same right to select what lie considers the choicest lands as the ('herokee has. 
No distinction should be made between them so far as such selei'tion is concerned. 

"The Delawares, by virtue of moneys heretofore ]>aiil to them by the United 
States in consideration of lands which they gave uj) at the time, have been in pos- 
session of considerable funds and have used those funds under the advice of the 
Secretary in imiiroving lands which they selected and which they have made their 
homes in the Indian Territory. Their improvements cover far more than the 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 57 

157,600 acres — in fact they cover not only the 157,600 acres, Ijut nearly all they will 
receive in case the suit in the Court of Claims is decided in their favor, as Cherokee 
citizens, oulside of the 157,600 acres of land. If, after the segrej^ation of the 157,600 
acres purchased and ]iaid for by the l)ela\vares, the Cherokees are allowed to have 
priority in the selection of their lands many Delawares will be ousted from their 
homes and from the lands on which they have spent larjje sums of money for 
improvements under the advice of your I)ei)artment, and have no redress therefor. 

" I submit that all selections and allotments of land outside of the 157,600 acres be 
postponed until after the final determination of the suit in the Court of Claims, or 
that the Delawares should be allowed to make provisional selections — to hold good 
in case the suit is decided in their favor — at the same time that the Cherokees make 
their selections. 

"In this way the rights of all parties will be preserved. The Delawares will get 
wdiat they are entitled to in case the suit is determined in their favor. The 
Cherokees will lose no rights which they j)Ossess." 

The Commission, with reference to Mr. Logan's request that the allotment of 
Cherokee lands be held "until the final determination of the suit ni the Court of 
Claims," invites attention to section 28 of the Cherokee agreement, which is as 
follows: 

"All Delaware Indians who are members or the Cherokee Nation shall take lands 
and share in the funds Of the tribe, as their rights may be determined by the judg- 
ment of the Court of Claims, or by the Supreme Court if appealed, in the suit insti- 
tuted therein by the Delawares against the Cherokee Nation and now pending; but 
if said suit be not determined before said Commission is ready to begin the allotment 
of lands of the tribe as herein provided, the Commission shall cause to be segregated 
one hundred and lifty-seven thousand six hundred acres of land, including lands 
which have been selected and occupied by Delawares in conformity to the prcjvisions 
of their agreement with the Cherokees dated April eighth, eighteen hundred and 
sixty-seven, such lands so to remain, subject to disposition according to such judg- 
ment as may be rendered in said cause; and said Commission shall thereupon proceed 
to the allotment of the remahiing lands of the tribes as aforesaid. Said Commission 
shall, when tinal judgment is rendered, allot lands to such Delawares in conformity 
to the terms of the judgment and their individual rights thereunder. Nothing in 
this act shall in any manner impair the rights of either party to said contract as the 
same may l)e finally determined by the court, or shall interfere with the holdings of 
the Delawares under their contract with the Cherokees of April eighth, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-seven, until their rights under said contract are determined by 
the courts in their suit now pending against the Cherokees, and said suits shall be 
advanced on the dockets of said courts and determined at the earliest time practi- 
cable" — 

and takes the position that said section clearly shows that it was not the intention of 
Congress to permit the allotment work to l)e delayed because of the fact that said 
suit was pending in the Coiu't of Claims. 

It states that the representations made by Mr. Logan carry with them the certainty 
that if the decision of the court should be adverse to the Delawares in any particular 
a request for further delay of the allotment work would lie made by the Delawares 
on the ground that their rights had not yet been adjn(iicate(l by the Supreme Court, 
to which an appeal from the Court of Claims will lie; that sliould the requt'st l)e 
granted and the decision of the Court of Claims be adverse to the contention of the 
Delawares, the Delawares would be entitled to have the allotment work further 
delayed on the ground that they expected a decision in their favor (jf the Supreme 
Court. 

The Commission gives it as its ojnnion that the statute above (juoted does not con- 
template an allotment to each Delaware of an amount of land equal to the per capita 
share of each Cherokee "in addition to tiie allotnient which such Delaware will 
receive from the 157, (KH) acres to t)e seg?egated pending the determination of said 
suit, and that to a<lopt the contrary view in procee<ling with the Ciierokee allotment 
would i)lace at a serious disadvantage innumeral)le Cherokees, who, unlike the Dela- 
wares, have neither inqiroved lands nor homes of their own." 

The Commission states that the 157,600 acres of land to be segn-gateil for the Del- 
awares are to include lands heretofore se'ected, occupied, and inqiroved by them and 
upon which they are now living, and invited attention to the following quotation 
from tlie petition of the Delawares in the suit now pending in the Court of Claims: 

"That thereupon the saiil Delawares selected the said 157,600 acres of land from 
the said Cherokee Iieservati<in east of line 06°, not theretofore selected or in posses- 
sion of other parties, entered into the occupancy and possession of the same and 
made extensive and valuable improvements thereon, and they, their children, 



58 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

descendants, heirs-at-law, and personal representatives, have continued to occupy 
and possess the said lands and the said improvements and have continued to make 
extensive and valuable improvements thereon and to reside thereon down to the 
present time." 

The Commission holds that it has no authoritj' under tlie law to make allotments 
to Delawares of land not embraced in the setiregation required by the agreement; 
that the allotments to the Cherokee should begin at the earliest possible date; that 
upon the ap[)lication of any Delaware citizen there should be reserved from allot- 
ment until the final determination of the suit mentioned, such lands not embraced 
in such segregation not exceeding an amount equal in value to 110 acres of average 
allotable land of the Cherokee Nation "as contain permanent and valuable improve- 
ments owned by such Delaware citizen." The Commission is of the ojiinion that if 
the course outlined by it is i>ursued, the rights of the Delawares will ))e fully 
protected. 

As this office understands the contention of the Delawares, they claim they are 

not entitled to acres, but are also entitled to share equally with the other 

citizens of the Cherokee Nation in the remaining lands. 

Section 23 of the Cherokee agreement specifically declares that if the suit " be not 
determined before said Commission is ready to begin the allotment of lands of the 
tribe as provided herein, the Commission shall cause to be segregated 157,600 acres 
of land, including the lands which have been selected and occupied by the Dela- 
wares," and directs that the Commission "shall thereupon proceed to the allotment 
of the remaining lands of the tribe as aforesaid." 

The office agrees with the Commission that it was not the intention of Congress to 
delay the allotment work in the Cherekee Nation until the suit between the Dela- 
wares and the Cherokees shall have been finally determined, and it therefore respect- 
fully recommends that the Commission's report be approved and that it be instructed 
to proceed in accordance therewith. 

Very respectfully, your ol^edient servant, 

AV. A. Jones, Commmioner. 



Exhibit 29. 

Department of the Interior, 

Washington, November 29, 1902. 
Mr. Walter S. Logan, 

27 William street, Nev Yorl; iV. Y. 
Sir: Referring to your letter of October 2, 1902, having relation to the suit of the 
Delaware Indians now pending in the Court of Claims, you are informed that the 
Department is in receipt of a report from the Dawes Commission, dated October 20, 
1902, in the matter. A copy of said report is inclosed herewith, together with a copy 
of the report of the Commissioner of Indian iVffairs. 

The Dej)artment concurs in the views expressed by the Commission, as also does 
the Commissioner. 

Respectfully, Thos. Ryan, AcHikj Secretarij. 



Exhibit 30. 

Department of the Interior, 
Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Muscogee, Ind. T., Jnnuarg 5, 1902. 
Walter S. I>ogan, Esq., 

Bond Btdlding, Washington, D. C. 
Dear Sir: Herewith inclosed find letter of this date addressed, jointly, to Walter 
S. Logan, attorney for ])etitioners, and William T. llutchings, attorney for respondents, 
relative to the segregation of Delaware lands under the iirovLsions of section 23 of 
the act of Congress ai)proved July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. L., TKi), and to certain discrep- 
ancies or clerical errors found in the sti[>ulation of counsel for jiarties in the case of 
the Delaware Indians v. the Cherokee Nation (U. S. Court of Claims, No. 21139), 
dated at Washington, I). C, December 10, 1902. 

A copy of said letter has this day been transmitted to William T. Ilutchins, esq., 
Muscogee, Ind. T. 

Yours truly, Ta.ms Bixhv, Acting (linlrman. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 59 

Exhibit 3L 

Department of the Interidr, 
Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Mnahoijee, Iml. T., Januunj ,5, 1903. 
Walter S. Logan, Attovney for Petitioners. 
William T. HrTciiiNos, Atloriu'i/ fur liespondents. 

Gentlemen: There was? filed in the otliee of this Commission on December 16, 1902, 
what purports to be a copy of a stipulation of counsel theretofore filed in the United 
States Court of Claims, in the case of the Delaware Indians /•. The Cherokee Nation 
(No. 21139), which stipulation, omitting the caption, is as follows: 

"In pursuance of leave reserved and grante(l by the court upon the final hearing 
of this case, it is hereby stii)ulatetl and agreed that the record herein Ije amended by 
substituting in the place of the incorrect descriptions given in the record herein of 
the 157,600 acres selected and claimed by the Delawares, the annexed descriptions, 
which, upon careful examination, have been found correct. 

"And it is further stipulated and agreed that the court may, in its decision and 
final judgment herein, use the annexed correct descrijjtions in the place of the incor- 
rect descriptions contained in said record; provided, however, such substituted 
descriptions do not interfere with the lawful rights or claims of other Cherokee 
citizens. 

"Walter S. Logan, Attorney for Petitioners. 
"William T. Hutchings, Attorney for Respondents. 
"Washington, D. C, December 10, 1902." 

Following the above are the descriptions of the lands therein referred to, aggre- 
gating 157,601.74 acres, said descriptions being arranged in paragraphs uesignated by 
letters from A to Z, AA to ZZ, and AAA to PPF. 

In accordance with the provisions of section 23 of the act of Congress approved 
July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. L., 716), the Commission has segregated and reserved from 
allotment, subject to disposition according to such judgment as may be rendered in 
said cause, 157,541.74 acres of land in the Cherokee Nation, the same being the land 
described in said stipulation, less 60 acres, accounted for as follows: 

(a) On page 9, paragraph L, section 5 calls for lots 1 and 2 and E. 2 of NW. \ of 
sec. 30, T. 21 N., R. 13 E., and gives area as 159.96 acres. The area of this quarter 
section, as expressed upon the official township plat, is 159.78 acres. [Our plat 
shows area to be 159.96 acres.] The area originally was as given in the stipulation, 
159.96, but owing to corrections in areas of lots it now appears as 159.78 acres. 
Deficit, 0.18 acre. 

(b) On page 9, paragraph L, section 6 calls for lots 1 and 2 of sec. 31, T. 21 N., 
R. 13 E., and gives area as 79.96 acres. [Our plat shows area to be 79.96 acres.] 
The areas of these two lots, as expressed upon official plat, is 79.34 acres. Deficit, 
0.62 acre. 

(c) 0.1 page 14, paragraph Q, section 4 calls for all of sec. 7, T. 26 N., R. 13 E. 12.34 
acres of this section are included within the limits of the town site of Bartlesville. 
[Delawares were there first, and insist on "all" of this section.] Deficit, 12.34 acres. 

(d) On page 46, paragraph II, section 3 calls for the SE. | sec. 8, T. 23 N., R. 
16 E., containing 160 acres. [Our plat shows area to be 143.99 acres.] Tliis quarter 
section is rendered fractional bv the Virdigris River, and contains a land area of but 
143.99 acres. Deficit, 16.01 acres. 

(e) On page 46, paragraph II, section 6 calls for lot 4 of sec. 30, T. 23 N., R. 16 E., 
giving area of same as 39. 33 acres. [Lot "4" should be lot " 7" (or SW. "SW.") 
39.33 acres.] The official township plat shows area of this lot to be 38.80 acres. 
Deficit, 0.53 acre. 

(f) On page 51, paragraph LL, section 2 calls for the N. I and SW. \ of sec. 4, T. 
26 N., R. 16 E., and gives area of same as 480 acres. [Our plat shows area to be 
480.08 acres.] The official township plat shows area of these tracts of land to be 
480.08 acres. Excess, 0.08 acre. 

(g) On page 54, paragraph MM, section 1 calls for the W. I sec. 6, T. 27 N., R. 16 
E. [Delawares were there fir.«t, and insist on all of the W. i.] 12.50 acres of the 
W. h of said section are included within thelimits of thetown site of Lenepah. Deficit, 
12.50 acres. 

(h) On page 63, paragraph VV, section 3 calls for the NE. \ NW. \ sec. 20, T. 15 
N., R. 19 E., and gives area as 40 acres. The NE. \ of NW. \ of said section is lot 
1, being rendered fractional by the Creek-Cherokee boundary line, and contains 39.98 
acres. [NE. "NW." should be lot 1 — 39.98 acres, as shown bv our jtlat.] Deficit, 
0.02 acre. 



60 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

(i) On page 72, paragraph 000, section 1 (a) calls for the S. ^ NE. ^ sec. 6, T. 11 
N., R. 24 E., giving area as 80 acres. 17.80 acres of said tract are included within 
the limits of the town site of Sallisaw. Deficit, 17.80 acres. 

(j) On page 73, paragraph 000, section 1 (d) calls for the N. ^ SE. \ sec. 6, T. 11 
N., R. 24 E., and gives area as 80 acres. 0.08 of an acre of the above-described tract 
is included within the limits of the town site of Sallislaw. Deficit, 0.08 acre. 

SUMMARY. 

Acres. 

Deficit (a) 0. 18 

Deficit {]>) 62 

Deficit (c ) 12. 34 

Deficit (d) 16. 01 

Deficit (e) 53 

Deficit ( g) 12. 50 

Deficit ( h ) 02 

Deficit ( i) 17. 80 

Deficit ( j ) 08 

60. 08 
Excess (f ) 08 

Net deficit 60. 00 

In addition to the foregoing there have been found certain discrepancies, which 
appear to he clerical errors, as follows: 

On page 2, paragraph F, section 1, calls for SW. \ NW. i sec. 31, T. 25 N., R. 12 E. 
There is no section 31 in this fractional township, and the same by location would be 
in the Osage Nation. This is probably a transposition of figures and intended for 
section 13. 

On page 4, paragraph H, section 4, calls for E. J NW. i sec. 13, T. 27 N., R. 12 E. 
This is apparentlv a clerical error and intended for the E. h NW. }. 

On page 12, paragraph P, section 8 (b) , calls for the SW. i sec. 10, T. 25 N., R. 13 E. 
This is apparently a clerical error and intended for the SE. ^, as section 8 (a) of the 
same i)ara>.Taiih, on page 11, calls for the W. J sec. 10, T. 25 N., R. 13 E., which 
includes the SW. ^ of said section. 

On page 42, paragraph EE, section 1 (a), the } has been omitted from the descrip- 
tion, which reads "S. * S. i NW. sec. 6, T. 27 N., R. 15 E." 

On page 42, paragraph EE, section 1 (c), calls in part for the W. i SE. ^ SE. \ of 
sec. 6, T. 27 N, R. 15 E. The description SE. J is apparently intended for SE. \. 

On page 71, paragraph III, section 5, calls for lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7, of sec. II, T. 
23N., R. 21 E., and givesareaas 187.80 acres. The official township plat shows area of 
these lots to be 149.20 acres. The addition of lot 6, however, of the same section, which 
lot contains 38.60 acres, would make a total area of 187.80 acres as called for in stipu- 
lation, and it appears that either lot 6 was omitted from stipulation by mistake, or 
if intentionally omitted, the change in total area was not made. (Lot 6 was tempo- 
rarily reserved, making the area of reservation agree with that given in stipulation 
in this case. ) 

On page 72, paragraph JJJ, section 7, calls for the S. i SW. |- sec. 25, T. 24 N., 
R. 21 E., giving area as 80 acres. This was apparently intended for S. i SW. ^ of 
said section. 

In those cases where clerical errors have been discovered, as aforesaid, the Com- 
mission has made a tentative segregation of the land which it believed the counsel 
intended to describe in said stipulation and as previously indicated. 

You are therefore respectfully requested to advise the Commission of such action 
as you may take to amend or correct the record in said cause in so far as it relates to 
the description of the land claimed by the Delawares, and to file with the Commis- 
sion at the earliest date possible a certified copy of such instrument as may be filed 
in said court for that purpose. 

Yours, truly, Tams Bixhv, Actiug Chairnian. 



EXHIHIT 32. 

Jam-ahy 15, 1903. 
Hon. Tams Bixhy, 

Aciimj Chairiiian, Conwiission to the Five Civilized Tribes, Muskogee, Ind. T. 
Dkar Sir: Inclosed I hand you certified copy of the second amended description of 
the Delaware lands. On revieAving we find that several corrections were necessary, 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. ()1 

substantially what you called our attention to in your letter; that is, on pa<re 2, one cor- 
rection; page 4, one correction; page 9, two correi-tioiis; page 12, one correction, and 
on page 14 we take exception to the town of Bartlesville intruding on Delaware 
lands. Arthur Armstrong, a Delaware Indian, who owns this land, had been living 
there many years I)efore the town of Bartlesville was tliought of. 

On page 42 we make two corrections; on page 4t), two corrections; on page 51, one 
correction, antl on page 54, whicli you claim that part of the selection belongs to the 
town of Lenajiah, we do not concede this for the same reason as above; that is, we 
had made the selections before the town was surveyed. On page 63 we make two 
corrections; on page 72, one correction, and on pages 73 and 74 we contend that our 
rights to this land are older and better than the rights of the town of Salisaw. 

We offer as a substitute for anv shortage the following: SK. \ 8E. \ sec. 6, T. 26 
X., R. LS E., 40 acres, and the NK. ', SW. ] sec. 6, T. 27 X., R. 13 E., 40 acres. Out 
of these SO acres you can take our shortage, taking fii-st the 40 acres descril)ed in T. 
26, R. 13, and whatever is still lacking take out of the other 40 at-res. Both of these 
40s are Delawai-e lands, in possession of Delaware Intlians, and can well go into the 
segregated lands. 

Yours, respectfully, Rkhako C. Ad.vms. 



Exhibit 33. 

Department of the Interior, 
Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Muskogee, Ind. T., March 17, 1903. 
The Secretary of the Interior. 

Sir: We have the honor to respectfully submit herewith the following statement 
of the work of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes for the month of Febru- 
ary, 1903: 

Supplemental testimony was taken in 204 cases wherein the applicants have not yet 
been placed on the tinal roll of citizens of the Cherokee Xation. 

Twenty-eight applications, wherein it appeared that the record was complete, were 
forwarded to the general othce of the Commission at ^luskogee, in order that deci- 
sions might be prepared. 

During the month at the general office at Muskogee decisions have been prepared 
in 50 applications for enrollment as citizens other than freedmen, in which there were 
embraced 103 applicants. Decisions have likewise been prepared in 384 ai)plications 
for enrollment as Cherokee freedmen, in which were embraced 1,077 a])plicants. 

Applications for 1,673 allotments and homesteads were received during Fel)ruary. 
Of this number 1,193 were approved. The approval of 372 was witidield because 
the enrollment of the applicants as citizens of the Cherokee Xation had not l)een 
finally approved by the Secretary of the Interior; 51 because the land applied for 
had already been allotted; 38 because the land applied for was eml)raced in the 
157,600 acres of land which the Commission caused to be segregated for the Dela- 
ware Indians pending the determination of the suit instituted in the Court of Claims, 
and in the Supreme Court, if appealed, by the Delawares against the Cherokee 
Xation, and 9 because the land apjilied for was embraced in tentative reservations 
heretofore made for certain towns in the Cherokee Xation. 

During the month tliere were approved l)y the Secretary of the Interior schedules 
in which were embraced the names of 206 persons whose applications for allotments 
had previously been received. Thereupon the applications were made regular. 
Twenty-two are still being held, as the land for which the applicants api>ly had 
already been allotted to other citizens and for various other ])urposes. 

Seven hundred and fifty certificates of allotment and 500 homestead certificates 
have been written and await distribution. 

Owing to the great amount of rain in this .«ection of the nation in the past two 
months the roads are quite impa.ssable, and it is almost imiiossil)]o for those persons 
who have to travel overland to appear at the land office and make their selection of 
allotments. 

Almost all of the applicants who have appeared to date are those who live within 
easy reach of the railroads leading to Vinita. But few of tlie full-bloods have 
appeared. The majority of them reside north and east (jf Tahle(|uah, and it has been 
impossible for them to cross Grand River, which had been extremely high during 
the entire month. 

Had the required number of applicants appeared it is believed that no less than 
2,000 allotments would have been made during the month just ended. 



62 MEMOKIAL OF THE DELAWAKE INDIANS. 

ALLOTMENT CONTEST DIVISION. 

The progress of the work in the allotment contest division during the month of 
February and the condition of contested allotment cases at the close of the month, 
as indicated by the records of that division, are shown by the following detailed 
statement: 

Cherokee Nation. 

Contests instituted prior to February 1 40 

Contests filed during February 24 

Complaints returned for correction during February 18 

Contests instituted during February 6 

The condition of the 6 Cherokee cases pending before the Commission on February 
28 was as follows: 

Awaiting final determination of citizenship 1 

Set for trial 5 

Total 6 

Respectfully submitted. 

Tams Bixby, Chairman. 

T. B. Needles, Commissioner. 

C. R. Breckinridge, Commissioner. 

W. E. Stanley, Commissioner. 
(Through the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.) 



Exhibit 34. 

Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, 

Washington, March ^7, 1903. 
The Secretary of the Interior. 

Sir: I have the honor to forward herewith monthly report of the Commission to 
the Five Civilized Tribes for the month of February, 1903, the report being dated 
March 17, 1903. 

In this connection permit me to say that there are now pending in this office the 
following citizenship cases: 

Mississippi Choctaw 91 

Choctaw by blood 108 

Chickasaw 2 

Cherokee 65 

Creek 1 

V^ery respectfully, 

, Acting Commissioner. 



Exhibit 35. 

Department of the Interior, 

Wasliingto)!, March 30, 1903. 
Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Muscogee, Ind. T. 
Gentlemen: The Department is in receipt of your monthly report dated March 17, 
1903, detailing the work done by your Commission during the month of February, 
1903, and you are informed that "the same has been examined and is hereby approved. 
A copy of the re])ort of the Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in which he 
gives the number of citizenship cases that are pending in the Indian Office, is inclosed 
herewith. 

Respectfully, Thos. Ryan, Acting Secretary. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 63 

Exhibit o6. 

MiscoGHE, Ino. T., Ajiril 16, If/OS. 
The Secretary of the Interior. 

Sir: We have the honor to resi)ectfully suhiuit hercwilli the follo\vin<i: Htatenient 
of the work of the Coiniiiii^sion to tlie Five C'iviHxx'd Tribes for the month of .Ahin-h, 
1903: 

* * * -X- «• * « 

CHEROKEE ALLOTMENT DIVISION. 

Durin<z: the month of .March, 1903, 1,204 ticrkets of achnission to the Cherokee land 
office were issued, making a total of 6,690 tickets issued since the office was opened 
on January 1, 1903. Approximately 3,000 tickets have been called. Of this number 
only 1,705 have responded. 

Six hundred and thirty-one citizenship certificates, eml)racing 1,521 applicants, 
and 332 reservation certificates, embracing 659 ai^jjlicants, were issued during the 
month of March. 

Apjilications for 2,642 allotments and homesteads were received during March. 
Of this number 1,775 were approved. The approval of 707 was withheld because 
the enrollment of the applicants as citizens of the Cherokee Nation hail not been 
finally approved by the Secretary of the Interior; 103 because the land apjjlied for 
had already been allotted, and 57 because the land applied for was embraced in the 
157,600 acres of land which the Commission caused to be segregated for the Delaware 
Indians pending the determination of the suit now j)ending in tbe Court of Claims. 

Nine hundred and ninety-one certificates of allotment and 958 homestead certifi- 
cates have been written, and as soon as the allotments are entered thereon in color 
they will be sul)mitted to the Commission for signature. 

During the month 1,250 allotment certificates and an equal number of homestead 
certificates were submitted to the Commission for signature. Two hundred and fiftv 
allotment and 250 homestead certificates were executed during the month, and iii 
cases where no contest has been entered the certificates have been forwarded to the 
allottees. 



ALLOTMENT CONTEST DIVISION. 

The progress of the work in the allotment contest division during the month of 
March and the condition of contested allotment cases at the close of the month, as 
indicated l)y the records of that division, are shown by the following detailed state- 
ment : 

* . * * * * * » 

Contests instituted prior to March 1 6 

Complaints filed during ^larch 43 

Complaints returned for correction during Mart'h 27 

Contests instituted during March 16 

Total 22 

Contests disposed of prior to March 1 

Contests disposed of during March 1 

Contests pending before the Commission March 31 21 

Contests pending an appeal March 31 

Total 22 

The condition of the 21 cases pending before the Commission March 31 was as fol- 
lows : 

Awaiting final determination of citizenship 2 

Set for trial 9 

Awaiting final hearing in companion case 2 

Awaiting issuance of notice of contest and summons H 

Total 21 

Respectfully submitted. 

, Chairman. 

, Coiinnlsxioiier. 

, Comtiiwxiouer. 

, Coiiniiissloticr. 

(Through the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.) 



64 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Exhibit 37. 

Department of the Ixtekior, Office of Indian Affairs, 

Washington, April 30, 1903. 
The Secretary of the Interior. 

Sir: There is transmitted herewith the report of the Commission to the Five Civ- 
ihzed Tribes relative to the work of the Commission performed during the month of 
March, 1903. The Commission, in transmitting this rejjort to the Otfice, inrluded 
therein what they no doubt considered a copy of said report, but upon examination 
the Office, finds that the same is not a copy, but does seem to V)e a copy of the Com- 
mission's report of the work performed by it in the month of February, 1908. 

There is inclosed herewith the copy of said February report which has been on 
file in the Office, so that the Department can compare this February copy with the 
intended copy of March, 1903. The attention of the Commission should be called to 
this matter and a copy of the report furnished by it for the files of this Ofiice. The 
Office concludes, of course, that there was simply a mistake in transmitting what was 
supposed to be a copy of the inclosed report, and which in fact is not a copy thereof, 
and yet it will be noticed that the word "February" in said copy has been erased 
and the word "March" substituted therefor. 

In connection with the transmittal of these papers, the Office has to report that 
there are now on file in this Otfice, and undisposed of, the following citizenship cases: 

Cherokee 30 

Intermarried Cherokees 57 

Creek 4 

Choctaw 79 

Chickasaw 1 

Mississippi Choctaw 99 

There is also one Creek land-contest case on file in the Otfice, that of Ross Hawkins 
V. Ellen Hawkins, which was appealed from the decision heretofore rendered tiierein 
and is now awaiting the decision of the Department in the matter of the application 
of said Ross Hawkins for citizenship in tlie Creek Nation. 
Very respectfully, 

A. C. ToNNER, Acting Commissioner. 



Exhibit 38. 

Department of the Interior, 
Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Muskogee, Ind. T., April L^O, 1903. 
The Secretary of the Interior. 

Sir: Report is hereby respectfully made of the action of the Commission in segre- 
gating 157,600 acres of land under section 23 of the act of July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. L., 
716), pending the determination of the suit of the Delaware Indians v. The Cherokee 
Nation, and submitting matters relating thereto for the consideration of the Depart- 
ment. 

Said section 23 is as follows: 

"Sec 23. All Delaware Indians who are members of the Cherokee Nation shall 
take lands and share in the funds of the tribe, as their riglits may be determined by 
the judgment of the Court of Claims, or by the Supreme Court if appealed, in the suit 
instituted therein by the Delawares against the Cherokee Nation, and now pending; 
but if said suit be not determined l)efore said Commission is ready to begin the allot- 
ment of lands of the tribe as herein provided, the Commission shall cause to be 
segregate<l one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred acres of land, including 
lands which have been selected and occupied by Delawares in conformity to the pro- 
visions of their agreement with the Cherokees dated April eighth, eighteen hundred 
and sixty-seven, such lands so to remain subject to disjiosition acc(irding to such 
judgment as may be rendered in said cause; and said Commission shall thereupon 
proceed to tlie allotment of the remaining lands of the tribe as aforesaid. Said Com- 
mission shall, when final judgment is rendered, allot lands to such Delawares in con- 
formity to the terms of the judgment and their individual rights thereunder. Nothing 
in this act shall in any manner imi)air the rights of either party to said contract as 
the same may be finally determined by thecourt, or shall interfere with the holdings 
of the Delawares under their contract with the (^herokees of April eighth, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-seven, until their I'iglits under said contract are determined by the 
courts in their suit now pending against the Cherokees, and said suit sliall be advanced 
on the dockets of said courts and determined at the earliest time practicable." 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 65 

In its communication of October 20, 1902, reporting on a letter from Mr. Walter S. 
Logan, referred to it by the Dejiartment, the Commission, among other things, said: 

"The 157,000 acres of land to be segregated for the Delawarcs are to include lands 
heretofore selected, occupied, and improved ])y them, and ui)on which all of said 
Delawares are living, as is set forth on page 10 of their jietition in the suit now j)ending 
in the Court of Claims, as follows: 

" 'That thereupon the said Delawares selet^ted the said 157,600 acres of land from 
the said Cherokee Reservation east of line 96°, not theretofore selected or in pos- 
session of other ])arties entered into the occupancy and possi'ssion of the same and 
madeextensiveandvalual)leim])rovements thereon, an<l they, their children, descend- 
ants, heirs at law, and personal representatives have continued to occui^y the said 
lands and the said imi)rovements, and have continued to make extensive and valuable 
improvements thereon and to reside thereon down to the present time.' " 

I'nder date of November 29, 1902, the Dej)artment advised the Commission as 
follows: 

"The Department is in receijit of your report dated October 20, 1902, in regard to 
a communication from Mr. Walter S. Logan concerning the suit of the Delaware Indians 
against the Cherokee Nation now pending in the Court of Claims. 

"The Department concurs in the views expressed by your Commission, and has 
advised ]\Ir. Logan to that effect. TheCommissioner of Indian Affairs also concurred.'' 

On Decendjer 16, 1902, there was filed with the Commission an amended schedule 
of land selected by the Delawares in the Cherokee Nation, said schedule being 
embodied in a stipulation of counsel, the preandjle of which, after omitting the title, 
is as follows: 

"In i>ursuance of leave reserved and granted by the court upon the final hearing 
of this case, it is hereby stipulated and agreed that the record herein be amended by 
substituting in the place of the incorrect description given in the record herein of the 
157,600 acres selected and claimed by the Delawares, the annexed descriptions 
which, upon careful examination, have been found correct. 

"Audit is further stipulated and agreed that the court may, in its decision and 
final judgment herein, use the annexed corrected descriptions in the place of the 
incorrect descriptions contained in said record, provided, however, such substituted 
descriptions do not interfere with the lawful rights or claims of other Cherokee 
citizens. 

"Walter S. Logan, Attorney for Petitioners. 
"William T. Hutchings, Attorney for Respondent. 

" Washington, D. C, December 10, 1902.'" 

On December 17, 1902, the Commission adopted the following resolution: 

" Be if resolved hy the Commission, That the acting chairman cause to be set aside 
and segregated 157,600 acres of land in the Cherokee Nation, in accordance with the 
provisions of section 23 of the act of Congress approved July 1, 1902 (Public — 
No. 241), subject to disposition according to such judgment as may be rendered in 
the case of the Delaware Indians r. Cherokee Nation now pending in the United 
States Court of Claims, and as shown by the description of said lands in the stij)ula- 
tion of counsel for parties in said case, dated at Washington, D. C, December 10, 
1902." 

In proceeding to carry said resolution into effect the Commission discovered 
numerous errors and discrepancies from the schedule submitted, which, by letter 
dated January 5, 1903, were called to the attention of Walter S. Logan and William 
T. Hutchings, counsel for petitioners and respondent, respectively, a copy of said 
letter being attached hereto and marked "Exhibit A." 

On January 23, 1903, the Commission received from Richard C. Adams, claiming 
to represent the Delaware Indians at Washington, a certified copy of a "Second 
amended schedule of lands selected by the Delawares in the Cherokee Nation, as 
per stipulation of counsel," which contains the additional stipulation of counsel as 
follows: 

"We agree to the corrections herein in ink on pages 2, 4, 9, 12, 14, 42, 46, 51, 54, 
63, 72, 73, 74, being two corrections on pages 9, 42, 46, 63, and one on each of the 
other pages, subject to the within proviso. 

"The 'above proviso' referred to in the additional stipulation just quoted refers to 
the following in the first stipulation quoted, viz, 'Provided, however, such substi- 
tuted descriptions do not interfere with the lawful rights or claims of other Cherokee 
citizens.' " 

A copy of Mr. Adams's letter of January 15, 1903, transmitting said omitted schedule, 
is herewith attached, marked "Exhibit B." 

S. Doc. 16 5 



66 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIAISS. 

A comparison of the errors and discrepancies reported to counsel by the Commis- 
sion with the correction made in the second amended schedule shows that the dis- 
crepancies which counsel failed to correct have reference to lands reported by the 
Indian inspector for Indian Territory to have been reserved by the Department for 

*°'Se''SimXion had reported to counsel that the schedule of Delaware lands em- 
braced 12.84 acres within the limits of the town site of Bartlesville, 12.50 acres withm 
the limits of the town site of Lenapah, and 17.88 acres within the hunts of the town site 

of Sallisaw. . , . , ,, 

Referring to said report Mr. Adams, in his letter, states: 

"On page 14 we take exception to the town of Bartlesville intruding on Delaware 
lands * * * on page 54, which you claim that part of the selection belongs to 
the town of Lenapah, w^e do not concede this for the same reason as above-that is, 
we have made the selections l)efore the town was surveyed - -^ ,, ^^'l^" I?^g^! 
73 and 74 we contend that our rights to this land are older and better than the rights 
of the town of Sallisaw." ,.. . t i m t i 

Since the opening of the Cherokee allotment at \inita, Ind. T , on Januaiy 1 
1903 a number of Cherokee citizens have made application for allotmeiits ot and 
embraced wholly or in part in the segregation made for the Delawares. They claim 
in many instances to have been in possession of these lands for years and to own 
valuable improvements on same, and state that no Delaware citizen has occupied 
such land or owned anv improvements thereon. Action on this class of applications 
has been deferred, pending the determination of the suit referred to ^^ , , , 
In a communication dated April 7, 1903, a copy of which is hereto attached and 
marked "Exhibit C," Mr. Adams states: ,, ,. , , , ., . ni ^^ 

" Mv understanding is that the 157,600 acres of land is segregated and that no Cher- 
okee will be allowed to file on this land or receive allotment out ot that until the 
Supreme Court has finally passed upon the rights of the Delaware Indians 

A copy of a letter to the same effect from Mr. Adams, dated April 10, 1903, is 
hereto attached and marked "Exhibit D." . • .. ^- i .• t ^.,^ 

From these it appears that notwithstanding the proviso m the stipulation ot coun- 
sel that the substituted descriptions are not to interfere with the lawful rights or 
claims of other Cherokee citizens the Delawares, through Mr Adams, take the posi- 
tion that if the decision of the Supreme Court is favorable to them the specific 
157 600 acres described in the record of the case will vest absolutely in the Delawares 
notwithstanding any claim which other Cherokee citizens may make to portions of 

the same land. . „ , , t i t -ii • <.u,^ 

In addition to the contention of the Delawares for the lands embraced within the 
limits of the town sites mentioned quite a serious situation with retereiice to the Del- 
aware segregation has developed in the work of allotment. Not a few Delaware citi- 
zens have presented themselves at the land office and asked to be alloAved to make a 
final selection of lands containing their improvements and upon which they resic e, 
claiming that no portion of the land occupied by them is included within the Dela- 
ware segregation. , ,. ^u T\^^^ 
The Commission has been informed informally of cases of numerous other Dele- 
ware citizens whose improved lands are not included within said segregation, and 
the statement has been frequently made that the representatives of the Delaware 
Indians, or other business committee, refused to schedule for segregation the lands 
of any Delaware citizen who failed to pay a pro rata share of the fee which said rep- 
resentatives of the committee demanded. The Delawares whose property rights are 
thus unprotected are for the most part in moderate circumstances, and the improve- 
ments upon the lands occupied by them represent in most instances the efforts ot a 

' The extent of the condition of affairs last mentioned is indicated by the correspond- 
ence with William Mairn, of Coodys Bluff, Ind. T., copies ot which are hereto 
attached and marked "Exhibit PI" + k,.„„ 

It is (luite evident that while lands occupied by Delaware citizens have not been 
includi'd in the schedule of lauds made a part of the record in the suit o I the De a- 
wares an amount of the public domain of the Cherokee Nation sufticient to bring the 
total segregation up to 157.000 acres, has l)cen included. . 

There are also attached hereto and marked "Exhibits Fand G" cx)pies ot the 
reports of the clerk in charge of the Chen.kee land in Vinita, dated Fel)ruary 1- 
1903, showing that since the segregation of lands for Delawares by this Ccamnission 
on December 17, 1902, the Department has fixed the exterior limits of the tovvn siu> 
of North Tilsa and Lawton in the Cherokee Nation, which embrace respectively -o.-o 
acres of land theretofore includcil in said Delaware segregation. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 67 

Under all circumstances the Commission believes that the lands embraced in the 
original schedule, and in the first and second amended schedules made a part of the 
second in the case ot the Delawares, have not been selected with a due reganl for the 
interests of either the Delaware citizens generally, or other citizens of the Cherokee 
Nation, and in so far as town sites are affected, without any intentitjn of conforming 
to the laws relating to the estabUshment of such town sites. 

The Connnission is in the receipt of a coinuumication from Mr. Adams to Hon. 
M. C. Quay, United States Senator from Pennsylvania, dated April 10, 1903, and 
referred by Senator (Inny to the Commission. A copy of said letter and of Senator 
Quay's indorsement thereon is hereto attached and marked " Exhibit II." In this 
latest letter Mr. Adams takes the position that the Commission is without jurisdii-tion 
to receive applications of the Cherokee citizens for lands embraced in the Delaware 
segregation, notwithstanding the jM'ovision of counsel in the stipulation hereinbefore 
set forth providing for the protection of the property rights of other Cherokee 
citizens. 

The Commission believes that some steps should be taken to guard against the pos- 
sibility of the Supreme Court rendering a judg'Jient adopting said schedule as to defi- 
nite and specific tracts of land to whicli the Delawares are entitled under their claim, 
and respectfully request that the Department may issue such instructions as it may 
deem proper in the premises. 

Respectfully, Tams Bixbv, Chalnnan. 

Thomas B. Needles, Comn^imoner. 
C. R. Breckixridge, Commissioner. 
W. E. Stanley, Commissioner. 

(Through the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.) 



Exhibit 39. 

Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affair.s, 

Washington, April 28, 1903. 
The Secretary of the Interior. 

Sir: Referring to office report of November 22, 1902, to Department letter of 
November 25, 1902, to office report of March 27, 1903, and to Department letter of 
March 30, 1903, there is inclosed herewith a communication from Mr. Richard C. 
Adams, dated April 18, 1903, relative to the segregation of Delaware lands in the 
Cherokee Nation, Ind. T., in accordance with the provisions of the Cherokee 
agreement. 

Mr. Adams invites attention to the provision of section 25 of the Curtis Act, which 
authorized the Delawares residing in the Cherokee Nation to bring suit in the Court 
of Claims against the Cherokee Nation for the purpose of determining the rights of 
the Delawares in and to the lands and funds of said Nation, under the Cherokee- 
Delaware agreement of April 8, 1867, and declares that " before any allotment shall 
be made fiom said lands in the Cherokee Nation there shall be segregated therefrom 
by the Commission heretofore mentioned, in separate allotments, or otherwise, the 
157,600 acres purchased by the Delaware tribe of Indians from the Cherokee Nation " 
unfler the agreement of April 8, 1867. 

He states that no action was taken by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 
as required by the provisions of section 25 of the Curtis Act, until after the ratifica- 
tion of the agreement, and invites attention to section 23 of said agreement, which is 
as follows: 

"Sec. 23. \11 Delaware Indians who are members of the Cherokee Nation shall 
take lands and share in the funds of the tribe, as their rights may be determined by 
the judgment of the Court of Claims, or by the Supreme Court if appealed, in the suit 
instituted therein by the Delawares against the Cherokee Nation, and now pending; 
Imt if said suit l)e not determined before said Commission is ready to begin the allot- 
ment of lands of the trilje as herein provided, the Commission shall cause to be seg- 
regated one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred acres of land, including 
lands which have been selected and occupied by Delawares in confornnty to the pro- 
visions of their agreement with the Cherokees dated April eighth, eighteen Inindred 
and sixty-seven, such lands so to remain, subject to disposition according to such judg- 
ment as may be rendered in said cause; and said Commission shall thereupon proceed 
to the allotment of the remaining lands of the tribe as aforesaid. Said Commission 
shall, when final judgment is rendered, allot lands to such Delawares in conformity 
to the terms of the judgment and their individual rights thereunder. Nothing in this 



68 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

act shall in any manner impair the rights of either party to said contract as the same 
may be finally deterniined by the court, or shall interfere with the holdings of the 
Delawares, until their contract with the Cherokees of April eighth, eighteen hundred 
and sixty-seven, under their rights under said contract are determined by the courts 
in their suit now pending against the Cherokees, and said suit shall be advanced on 
the dockets of said courts and determined at the earliest time practicable." 

He states that in anticijiation of the allotment of the lands of the Cherokee Nation 
in conformity with the provisions of section 23, the Delaware Indians through him, 
as their authorized attorney in fact and representative, filed with the Commission in 
December last a list of selections of land, aggregating about 157,600 acres as Delaware 
selection to be segregated in accordance with section 23 of the agreement; that cer- 
tain minor errors were found in some of the descriptions; that a corrected list was 
forwarded to the Commission at its request in January, 1903, which said list contained 
the descriptions of 157,600 acres of land, and "was received, accepted, and placed on 
file by said Commission, as and for the Delaware lands segregated under the authority 
of said act. ' ' 

He further states thatr on February 2 last a decree was entered by the Court of 
Claims in the case of the Delawares t'. The Cherokees; that on March 18, 1903, an 
appeal was taken to the Supreme Court from the decision of the Court of Claims, 
and that said case is now pending in the Supreme Court of the United States; and he 
takes the position that the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes exercised the 
authority vested in it by the Cherokee agreement in segregating the Delaware lands, 
has no authority or jurisdicti(^n over the lands so segregated until final determination 
of the suit of the Delawares v. The Cherokees by the Supreme Court of the T'nited 
States, and that it has " no further power to do any other act with reference to said 
lands." 

He then states that the agreement provides that after said segregation shall have 
been made the Commission shall proceed to allot the remaining lands of the Cherokee 
tribe, and he concludes that the Commission has "no more power to receive any 
application for, or to perform any act concerning, any of the lands embraced within 
the Delaware selections than if these lands had been within the Osage Reservation, 
in Oklahoma, or had never been any part of the lands of the Cherokee tribe." 

Mr. Adams states that recently he has received many letters and telegrams from 
Delaware Indians residing in the Indian Territory and occupying parts of the segre- 
gated lands, stating that they have been notified by the Commission to the Five 
Civilized Tribes that certain Cherokees have filed upon the lands occupied by the 
Delawares referi-ed to, which lands are "witliin the segregated lands herein referred 
to, and notifying such Delawares to appearand file contests;" that this action seems 
to indicate that the Commission does not intend to treat the segregated lands as with- 
drawn from selection by the Cherokees; that if such action is carried out it will, in 
effect, nullify section 23 of the Cherokee agreement and deprive the Delawares of 
the protection whi(4i Congress intended to guarantee them by the provisions of said 
section; that if sucji action should be sustained as to one or several selections it could 
be sustained as to all, and there would therefore be no segregated lands; that such 
action would deprive the Delawares of their property rights, for the reason that they 
can not take their allotments at this time, and will not be allowed to do so until the 
case pending before the Supreme Court shall have been finally determined, and that 
he has been informed by the clerk of the Supreme Court that the case will probably 
not be disposed of for a year or more. 

I\Ir. Adams then states that the Delaware Indians, acting under the advice of the 
Department, and the then Indian agent, Mr. Leo F. Bennett, s])ent almost all their 
tribal funds, which amounted to about $1,000,000, in the improvement of their homes 
in the Cherokee Nation eml)raced in the segregation referred to by him; that they 
have l)een loyal to the United Staters; have l)een law-abiding and peaceful in the 
Cherokee Nation; that they deserve the protection of the Government to the fullest 
extent; that it was the intention of Congress to extend this }irotection and make it 
fully effective; that if the law is interpreted as it seems to have been interjjreted b}' 
the (Vimmission it will become inoperative, and he appeals to the Department to 
take such action in the premises as may be expedient and necessiiry to protect the 
interests of the Delaware people, and give due force and validity to section 23 of the 
agreement. 

The Commission in its report of October 20 last, relative to the recjuest of Mr. Wal- 
ter S. Logan, attorney for the Delawares in their suit against the Cherokees, gave it 
as its o])inion, that the law does not contemplate that such Delaware shall have an 
allotment of land e(]ual to the {)er capita share of each Cherokee, "in addition to 
the allotment each such Delaware shall receive from the 157,600 acres to be segre- 
gated pending the determination of said suit, and that to adopt the contrary view in 



MEMORIAL OF THK DP^LAWARE INDIANS. 69 

proceedinp: with the Cherokee allotment would place at a serious disadvantage innu- 
merable Cherokees, who, unlike the Delawares, have neither improved lands nor 
homes of their own." 

It was stated tiy the Commission that the lands to be segregated for the Delawares 
should ineludethat " occupied and improved by them, and upon which they are now 
living." 

In said report the Commission lu'l<l tliat it had no authority, under the law, to 
make allotments for Delawares of land not embraced in the segregation re(|uired bj^ 
the agi-eement; that the allotments to the Cherokees should begin at the earliest pos- 
sible date; that ui)on'the api)lication of any Delaware citizen there shoul<l be reserved 
from allotment until the determination of the Delaware-Cherokee suit such lands not 
embraced in the segregation, and not exceeding an amount equal to 110 acres of the 
average allotable land of tlie Cherokee Nation " as contain permanent and valuable 
improvements ownetl 'oy such Delaware citizen." 

The office concurred in the views expressed by the Conunission, and recommended 
the approval of the Commission's report. 

Xovendjer 29, 1902, the Department concurred in the views expressed by the Com- 
mission and this office, and so advised Mr. Logan. 

In the Commission's report of March 17, 190.S, relative to the work performed dur- 
ing the month of February, 1903, which was transmitted with office report of ]\Iarch 
27 last, it is stated, under the heading " Cherokee allotment division " (see p. 21 ), that 
"application for 1,673 allotments ami homesteads were received during February 
* * * The approval of 372 was withheld, because the enrollment of the applicants 
as citizens of the ('herokee Nation had not been finally approved by the Secretary of 
the Interior, * * * 38 because the land applied for was embraced in the 157,600 
acres of land which the Commission caused to be segregated for the Delaware Indians 
pending the determination of the suit instituted in the Court of Claims and in the 
Supreme Court, if appealed, by the Delawares against the CUierokee Nation." 

From said monthly report it would appear, as stated by Mr. Adams in his com- 
munication, that the Conunission to the Five Civilized Tribes has, in accordance 
with the j>rovisions of section 23 of the Cherokee agreement, segregated the 157,600 
acres hereinbefore mentioned. 

The Commission's report of March 17, 1903, was approved ])y the Department on 
March 31 last. If the Commission had theretofore segregated said land — and from 
the correspondence it seems it had — the Department's approval of said report is, in 
effect, the apjtroval of said segregation. 

Section 23 of the Cherokee agreement specifically declares that the 157,600 acres 
purchased by the Delawares from the Cherokees shall be segregated from allotment 
if the suit hereinbefore mentioned lias not been determined when the Conunission 
shall be reaily to commence making allotments in the Cherokee Nation, ".';o to remain 
subject to disposition according to such judgment as may be rendered in said case." 
(Italics mine. ) 

Section 6 of the Cherokee agreement declares that the word "select" and its 
various moditications shall l)e held to mean "the formal application at the land 
office to be estal)lished by the Dawes Comnussion for the Cherokee Nation for 
particular tracts of land." 

When the Commission was ready to commence the allotment of the Cherokee 
lands, inasmuch as the Delaware-Cherokee suit had not been finally determined, it 
became its duty to segregate the land claimed by the Delawares. This duty was 
obligatory and not discretionary. The records show that the Conunission did segre- 
gate said land, and the lands so segregated are not susceptible of allotment at tiiis 
time, and will not l)e, under the law as it exists, until the pending suit shall have 
been finally decided. 

The office does not believe that the Commission has any authority to allot any of 
the lands segregated during the jiendency of said suit to Cherokee citizens, whether 
of Delaware blood or otherwise. If any citizen of the ('herokee Nation applies to 
the Commission for an allotment of any of the lands segregated his ap])lication, the 
office believes, should be rejected. The laml is not susceptible of allotment, ?nd if 
the {\)mmission were to receive and file an application, and even mark it " rejected," 
it is possible that it would comi)licate matters, on account of the provisions of section 
6 of the agreement, although it would seem that under the law no action of the Com- 
mission, or of any citizen of the nation, can in any way affect the segregated land 
until the deternnnation of the Delaware-Cherokee suit. Cherokee citizens have the 
right to select any lands susceptible of allotment, not si'gregated. or in the ])os.>je.<sion 
of some citizen oi' the nation, as his pro rata share of Cherokee lands. If the Com- 
mission permits Cherokee citizens to select any part of the segregated land, and issues 
allotment certificates therefor, or even if it accepts the application, such action is 



70 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

almost sure to complicate matters, especially if the suit is finally determined in favor 
of the Delawares. Furthermore, it would seem from the law that the Commission 
has no jurisdiction, at this time, of the segregated lands, so far as allotting them is 
concerned, and will have no jurisdiction in that capac^ity, as the law exists, until the 
suit shall have been finally determined. 

Ordinarily a matter of this sort should first l)e referred to the Commission for con- 
sideration and report, but inasmuch as Mr. Adams states positively that the 
Commission has permitted Cherokee citizens to select Delaware segregated lands 
the Office has deemed it proper to ex})ress its views, and it is suggested that the 
matter l>e brought to the attention of the Commission, with direction not to con- 
tinue to allow C'herokee citizens to select any of said lands, if it has in fact done so, 
until such time as it shall have been fully instructed in the premises bj' the 
Department. 

It is respectfully recommended that the Connnission be directed as herein 
suggested, and that the whole matter be referred to the Commission for early report. 
Very respectfully, 

A. C. ToNXER, Actbig Coiinnisstoner. 



Exhibit 40. 

Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, 

Washington, April 30, 1903. 
The Secretary of the Interior. 

Sir: Referring to office report of April 28, 1903, relative to the Cherokee lands 
segregated by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes in accordance with the 
provisions of section 23 of the Cherokee agreement, there is inclosed herewith a 
report from the Commission, dated April 20, 1903, pertaining to the same sul)ject. 

In said report the Commission quotes section 23 of the agreement; quote from the 
Commission's report of October 20, 1902, as follows: 

" The 157,600 acres of land to be segregated for the Delawares are to include lands 
heretofore selected, occupied, and improved Vjy them and upon which all of said Del- 
awares are living, and is set forth on page 10 of their petition in the suit now pend- 
ing in the Court of Claims, as follows: 

" ' That thereupon the said Delawares selected the said 157,600 acres of land from 
the said Cherokee Reservation east of line 96°, not theretofore selected or in posses- 
sion of other parties, entered into the occupancy and possession of the same and 
made extensive and valuable improvements thereon ; and they, their children, descend- 
ants, heirs at law, and j^ersonal representatives have continued to occujiy and possess 
the said lands and the said improvements and have continued to make extensive 
and valuable improvements thereon and to reside thereon down to the present 
time.' " 

And from Department letter of November 29, 1902, in which the Commission 
was advised that — 

" The Department is in receipt of your report, dated October 20, 1902, in regard to 
a communication from ]\Ir. "Walter S. Logan concerning the suit of the Delaware 
Indians against the Cherokee Nation now pending in the Court of Claims. 

" The Department concurs in the views expressed by your Commission and has 
advised ilr. Logan to that effect. The Commissionerof Indian Affairs also concurred." 

It is then stated that on December 16, 1902, there was filed with the Commission 
an amended schedule of lands selected by the Delawares in the Cherokee Nation; 
that this schedule embodied the stipulation of counsel for the Delawares and Chero- 
kees, which, omitting the title, is as follows: 

" In pursuance of leave reserved and granted Ijy the court nprni the final hearing 
of this case it is hereby stipulated and agreed that the record herein be amended by 
substituting, in the place of the incorrect descriptions given in the record herein of 
the 157,600 acres selected and claimed by the Delawares, the annexed descriptions, 
which, n])on careful examination, have l)een found correct. 

"And it is further stipulated and agreed that the court may, in its decision and 
final judgment herein, use the annexed correct descriptions in the place of the incor- 
rect descriptions contained in said record; provided, however, such substituted 
descriptions do not interfere with the lawful rights or claims of other Cherokee 
citizens. 

"Walter S. Logan, Attorneg for Petitioners. 
"Wii.MAM T. HuTCHiNGS, Attomcy f Or Respondent. 

" WAsiiix(iTON, D. C, December 10, HiOJ.'' 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 71 

Tlie report shows that on December 17, 1902, the Commission adopted the follow- 
ing resolution: 

^^ Jie il remlred hi/ tlie CoDimixaioii, That the arting rhainnan cause to be set aside 
and segregated 157, (iOO acres of land in the Cherokee Nation in accordance with the 
provisions of section 23 of the act of Congress appnjved July 1, 1902 (rubhi — No. 
241), subject to disposition according to such judgment as may be rendered in the 
cage of the Delaware Indians r. The Cherokee Nation, now pending in the I'nited 
States Court of Claims, and as shown by the description of said land in the stipulation 
of counsel for parties in said case, dated at Washington, I). C, December 10, 1902." 

The Conunission states that in proceeding to carry the resolution into effect 
numerous errors and discrepancies were discovere<l in the schedule; that on January 
o, 190."!, the attention of Walter S. Logan and William T. ilutchings, counsel for the 
petitioners and respondent, respectively, was called to said errors and discrei)ancies. 
A copy of the Connnission's connuunication (^f the date last mentioned is among the 
papers, and is marked "Exhibit A." 

The report shows that on January 23, 1903, Mr. Richard C. Adams, who claims to 
represent the Delaware Indians, furnished the Commission with a copy of a "second 
amended schedule of lands selected by the Delawares in the Cherokee Nation, as per 
stipulation of counsel," which contains an additional stipulation by counsel, as fol- 
lows: 

" We agree to the corrections herein in ink on pages 2, 4, 9, 12, 14, 42, 46, 51, 54, 
63, 72, 73, 74, being two corrections on pages 9, 42, 46, 63, and one on each of the 
other pages, sul)ject to the al)ove proviso." 

The Commission states that the "above proviso" in the additional stipulation 
refers to the following: "Provided, however, such substituted descriptions do not 
interfere with the lawful rights or claims of other Cherokee citizens," contained in 
the lirst stipulation. A copy of Mr. Adams's letter of January 15, 1903, transmitting 
the second amended schedule is among the papers, and is marke(l "Exhibit B." 

The Commission states that a comparison of the errors and discrepancies reported 
to the counsel for the Delawares and Cherokees, respectively, by the Comnnssion, 
with the corrections made in the second amended schedule, shows that the discrep- 
ancies which counsel failed to correct pertain to lands reported ))y the Indian 
inspector for the Indian Territory to have been reserved for town-site i)urposes; that 
the Commission adviseil the attorneys for the contending parties that the schedule 
of Delaware lantls "embraced 12.34 acres within the limits of the town site of Dartles- 
ville, 12.50 acres within the limits of the town site of Lenapah, and 17.88 acres within 
the limits of the town site of Sallisaw," and that Mr. Adams, in his letter of January 
15 last, states that— 

"On page 14 we take exception to the town of Bartlesville intruding on Delaware 
lands. * * * On page 54, which you claim that part of the selection belongs to 
the town of Lenapah, we do not concede this for the same reason as above; that is, 
we have made the selections before the town was surveyed, * * * and on pages 
73 and 74 we contend that our rights to this land are older and better than the rights 
of the town of Sallisaw." 

It is then stated that since the opening of the Cherokee allotment office at Vinita, 
on January 1 last, a number of Cherokee citizens have made applications for allot- 
ments of lands end)raced wholly or in part in the segregation iiuule for the Dela- 
wares; that such citizens, in many instances, claim to liave been in j)ossession of the 
lands api)lied for for years, anil to own valuable improvements on the same, and 
that no Delaware citizen has ever occupied such lands or owned any im])rovements 
thereon; that action on this class of applications has been deferred ]iending the 
determination of the Delaware-Cherokee suit, and attention is invited to Mr. Adams's 
connuunication of April 7, 1903, a copy of which is among the papers, and marked 
"Exhil)it C," wherein he states: 

" My understanding is that the 157,600 acres of land is sc^gregated and that no 
Cherokee will be allowed to file on this land or to receive allotment out of it until 
the Supreme Court has finally [lassed ujMjn the rights of the Delaware Indians." 

A copy of a letter from Mr. Adams to the same effect, dated .\itril 10, 1903, is 
among the papers, and marked " Exhibit D." 

The Commission states that from Mr. Adams's communication it "ajjpears that 
notwithstanding the proviso in the stipulation of counsel that the su])stituted descrip- 
tions are not to interfere with the lawful rights or claims of other Cherokee citizens, 
the Delawares, through Mr. Adams, take the |)osition that if the decision of the 
Supreme Court is favorable to them, the s|)ecific 157,600 acres described in the rec- 
ord of the case will vest absolutely in the Delawares, notwithstanding any claims 
which other Ciierokee citizens may make to portions of the same lands;" that in 
addition to the contention of the Delawares for the lands embrai'cd within the limits 
of the town sites mentioned, and for lands claimed "and in the j)os.xession of other 
Cherokee citizens," a serious situation with reference to the Delaware segregation 



72 MEMORIAL OF THK DELAWARE INDIANS. 

has developed in the work of allotment; that not a few Delaware citizens have pre- 
sented themselves at the land office and asked to be allowed to make final selections 
of lands containing their improvements, and upon which they reside, claiming that 
no portion of the lands occupied by them is included in the segregation; that the 
Commission has been informally advised " of cases of numerous other Delaware cit- 
izens whose improved lands are not included within said segregation, and the state- 
ment has been frequently made that the representative of the Delaware Indians, or 
their business committee, refused to schedule for segregation the lands of any Dela- 
ware citizen who failed to pay a pro rata share of the fee which said representatives 
or conmiittee demanded; " that the extent of the condition of affairs last mentioned 
is indicated by the correspondence had with Mr. William Nairn, copies of which are 
among the papers, marked "Exhibit E;" that it is evident that while lands occu- 
pied by Delaware citizens have not been included in the schedule of lands made a 
part of the record in the suit commenced by the Delawares, " an amount of the pub- 
lic domain of the Cherokee Nation sufficient to V)ring the total segregation up to 
157,600 acres has been included," and the Commission forwarded copies of the cor- 
respondence of the clerk in charge of the Cherokee land office at Vinita, which copies 
are marked Exhibits " F " and " G," and show that since the segregation of the lands 
for the Delawares " by this Commission, on December 17, 1902," the Department 
has fixed the exterior limits of the town sites of North Tulsa and Lawton, in the 
Cherokee Nation, which embrace 20 and 25 acres, respectively, of the amount there- 
tofore included in the Delaware segregation ; that under the circumstances the Com- 
mission believes that the land embraced in the original schedule, and in the first and 
second amended schedules, made a part of the record in the Delaware case, have not 
been selected with due regard for the interests of either the Delaware citizens, gen- 
erally, or other citizens of the Cherokee Nation, and without any intention of con- 
forming to the laws pertaining to the establishment of town sites. 

The Connnission inclosed with its report a copy of a communication addressed to 
Hon. M. S. Quay, United States Senator from Pennsylvania, by Mr. Adams, on 
April 10, 1903, which was referred to the Commission by Senator Quay. Said copy 
is marked "Exhibit H." Mr. Adams's communication of April 10, 1903, to Senator 
Quay, is almost identical with his letter of April 18, 1903, which was forwarded to 
the Department with office report of April 28, 1903. In this communication he 
takes the position that the Commission is without jurisdiction to receive applications 
of Cherokee citizens for lands embraced within the Delaware segregation, and the 
Commission states that this position is taken " notwithstanding the proviso of coun- 
sel in the stipulation herein]>efore set forth providing for the protection of the prop- 
erty rights of other Cherokee citizens." 

The Commission believes that steps should ])e taken by the Department to guard 
against the possibility of the Supreme Court, in rendering judgment in said case, 
adopting the schedule "as the definite and specific tracts of land to which the Dela- 
wares are entitled under their claim," and requests that the Department issue such 
instructions as may be deemed proper in the pi'emises. 

From the papers before this office it appears that the Commission has segregated 
lands for the Delawares, if any segregation has been made, in accordance with 
schedules furnished it by Mr. Adams. 

Decend^er 17, 1902, the Commission adopted a resolution authorizing and empower- 
ing the then acting chairman to segregate the Delaware lands as required by the 
Cherokee agreement. 

The Connnission stated in its report of March 17, 1903, relative to the Commission's 
work during the month of February, that the lands had been segregated, and it 
appears that the Connnission considers that the lands were segregated as of date of 
December 17, 1902, the day the resolution was adopted, although the Connnission's 
report shows that it accepted the second amended schedule from .Mr. Adams on 
January 23, 1903. There is nothing in the papers which shows that the Connnission, 
or the present chairman of the Connnission, in accordance with the resolution of 
December 17 last, segregated the lands i-eferred to except the Connnission's com- 
munication of January 5, 1903, addressed to Walter S. Logan and William T. Ilutch- 
ings, a copy of which is among the papers. In that connruniication it is stilted that 
"the Connnission has segregated and reserved from allotment, subject to disposition 
according to sucih judgment as may be rendered in said cause, 157,541.74 acres of 
land in tiie Cherokee Nation, the same lK>ing the land described in said stipulation 
less 60 acres," accounted for as indicated in the Connnission's comnnnncation. 

The Commission's report and other pa])ers do not show that the chairman of the 
Commission actually segregated the land in accordance with said resolution, and 
that his action was a])proved by the Commission. It seems that the Connnission 
did not investigate the matter and ascertain whether the lands it segregated, or pro- 
posed to segregate, were "lands which have been selected and occupied by Dela- 
wares in conformity to the provisions of their agreement with the Cherokees " of 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 73 

April 8, 1867, but that it s^iinply took the schedule or sohedules furnished it by ^Ir. 
Adams, and that the seurrejiation was inaile, if any has been made, in accordance 
with such schedule or schedules, without investigation as to whether the lands 
described therein were susi"ei)til)le of segregation in accordance with the iirovisions 
of law. It seems to this Othce that the Conuuission should have first segregated all 
lands "which have been selected and occupied l)y Delawares," and if the total 
amount segregated did not aggregate the riniuired amount, then segregate from the 
public domain lands sutiicient to make 157, HOO acres. If the Delaware Indians had 
*' selected and occupied" more than 157, ()00 acres, the aggregate amount of the lands 
selected and occupied by them should have been reduced, so that the total would 
not exceed 157,600 acres.- This segregation, the Office believes, should have been 
made by the Commission from its own records and projjer investigation, and not 
from the schedule or schedules furnished it by ^Ir. Adams or anyone else repre- 
senting the Delawares. The schedule or schedules furnished by >ir. A<lams could 
have been u.«ed by the Commission in connection with the making (if the segregation, 
but the Commission should not have simply segregated the lands which he requested 
be segregated without proper. investigation. 

From the Commission's report it appears that the Commission segregated the lands 
that Mr. Adams requested be segregated, and it seems and in fact the Commission 
states, that the lands purported to have been segregated do not include all of the 
lands "selected and occupied by Delawares." . 

The records of this Office do not show that the Department has been furnished with 
the legal description of the lands alleged to have been segregated by the Commission. 
It seems to the Office that the Commission should, as soon as the lands was segre- 
gated, have furnished the Department with a list of the segregated lands. 

With reference to the town sites the records of this Office show that the establish- 
ment of the exterior limits of Bartlesville was approved March 13, 1902, that the 
establishment of the exterior limits of Lenapah was approved March 5, 1H02, and 
that the establishment of the exterior limits of Sallisaw was approved ]\Iay 15, 1902. 

At the time that tlie establishment of the exterior limits of the towns above- 
mentioned was approved by the Department the Delaware lands had not been segre- 
gated, and the Office believes that, under the provisions of the Cherokee agreement, 
lands not specifically segregated for any particular purpose were susceptible of being 
set aside for town-site purposes. It therefore believes that Mr. Adams's contention 
relative to the Department's not having authority to segregate the lands referred to 
by him, for town-site purposes, is untenable. 

August 15, 1902, the Department authorized the inspector for the Indian Territory 
to properly establish the exterior limits of the town of Lawton. This was prior to 
the purported segregation of Delaware lands on December 16 last, and the remarks 
relative to Bartlesville and the other towns above mentioned are applicable to 
Lawton. 

The establishment of the exterior limits of North Tulsa was approved by the 
Department January 21, 1903, which was subsequent to the alleged segregation of 
Delaware lands. If the Delaware lands have been segregated, as the Commission 
holds, it is doubtful whether any of the lands should have been included within the 
limits of the town, as it seems that it was the intention of Congress that tlie segre- 
gated lands be not in any way ilisturbed after .segregation, until the Delaware-Chero- 
kee suit shall have been finally determined. The Conuuission seems to be of the 
opiiiion that on account of the stipulation signed by the attorneys for the parties to 
the litigation, which is in part as follows, "Provided, however, such substituted 
descriptions do not interfere with the lawful rights or I'laims of other Cherokee citi- 
zens," its jurisdiction to allot to Cherokees, or at least to receive and file application 
for allotment, covers segregated lands. 

The Commission's report of March 17, 1903, relative to the work pcM-formed by it 
during the month of Feliruary, 1903, shows that 38 apjilications for allotments were 
not approved "because the laml applied for was embraced in the 157,600 acres of 
land which the Commission caused to be segregated for the Delaware Imlians," and 
its report of April 16, 1903, relative to the work ])erfornied by it during the month 
of March, 1903, which has this day bei'U transmitted, shows that 57 applications for 
allotments have not been apjiroved for the same reason. This ( )flice does not under- 
stand that the Commissicm has any jurisdiction of the segregated lands, after the seg- 
regation shall have been made, until such time as the court shall have finally ilccided 
the same. The law specifically declares that the lands shall lie segregated, and that 
when segregated "such lands so to remain" until the final determination of the 
cause, and requires the Commission to allot "the remaining lands of the tribe as 
aforesaid." 

The fact that the attorneys for the contending parties have signed a stipulation 
agreeing that the lands segregated shall not " interfere with the lawful rights or 
claims of other Cherokee citizens " does not in anv manner whatever nullifv or 



74 MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWAHE INDIANS. 

modify the law. The law is directory, and the Commission has no discretionary 
power in the premises. If the 157,600 acres have been segregated the Office does not 
believe that the Commission should, until after the determination of the suit, permit 
any citizen of the nation to even tile an application selecting any of the segregated 
lands as his allotment. 

If any error has been made by the Commission in segregating lands lawfully in the 
possession of Cherokee citizens not of Delaware blood, the error should be corrected; 
and after this has been done Cherokee citizens, whether of Delaware blood or other- 
wise, should not be permitted to file an application covering any of the segregated 
lands pending the (letermination of the case. It is thought that during said time 
the Commission should not even receive and file applications covering segregated 
lands. Applicants should, the Office believes, be advised that the Commission is 
without jurisdiction to allot or to receive an application covering any of such lands 
during the pendency of the suit. 

The Commission's reports for the months of February and ]\Iarch show that it has 
received 95 applications covering lands alleged to have been segregated in accordance 
with section 23 of the agreement. To continue such applications will only be the 
means of complicating matters and fostering contests. 

The Commission seems to be of the opinion that the Supreme Court of the United 
States may, in deciding the Delaware suit, approve a certain schedule, which seems 
to be a part of the record in the case, and expresses the opinion that steps should l)e 
taken to prevent such action by the court. This Office does not understand that the 
court has authority to approve such schedule. The province of the court seems to 
be to decide the questions involved, and to determine what interests the Delaware 
citizens have in the Cherokee lands; and it is the duty of the Commission, and not of 
the court, to segregate the 157,600 acres. However, it is believed that the Commis- 
sion should furnish the Dejjartment with legal descriptions of the tracts segregated, 
if such segregation has Ijeen made, for its information and for such action, with refer- 
ence to bringing the matter to the attention of the court, as the Department may 
consider proper. 

If the Department shall hold that the Commission has segregated the 157,600 acres 
of land, it is suggested that the Commission be advised in accordance herewith; but 
if the Department shall Imld that the land has not been segregated, it is thought 
that the Commission should be instructed to immediately segregate from allotment, 
"so to remain" until the final determination of the cause, 157,600 acres of land, the 
same to include "lands which have been selected and occupied by Delawares in 
conformity with the agreement of Ai)ril 8, 1867." 

As above stated, the Office believes that the Department has full power and author- 
ity to segregate any Cherokee lands for town-site purposes, regardless of whether 
occupied by Delaware citizens or any other citizen of the Cherokee Nation prior to 
the alleged Delaware segregation of December 17 last; and, as part of the Deleware 
segregation is included within the limits of town sites, it is thought that the Com- 
mission should Ije instructed to segregate from the public domain or lands in pos- 
session of Delaware citizens, if all of such lands have not been segregated, additional 
lands in an amount equal to the Delaware segregation included within the limits of 
the town sites above mentioned, except North Tulsa. 

If the Delaware lands were segregated on December 17, 1902, and were not after 
that date susceptil)le of allotment during the pendency of the suit, or subject to being 
reserved for town-site purposes after the segregation, it would seem that the Depart- 
ment's action in setting aside 20 acres of the Delaware segregation for town-site pur- 
poses in the town of North Tulsa should be reconsidered, and that the 20 acres 
mentioned should not be included within the limits of the town site. 

The records of this Office and the Commission's report do not show that the 
inspector for the Indian Territory had been advised of the alleged segregation of 
Delaware lands. If he had been so advised, it is not prol)able that he would have 
recommended that 20 acres of sut-h lands be included within tlie limits of the town 
of North Tulsa, at least without bringing the matter to the attention of the Department. 
Vei-y respectfully, 

A. C. ToNNER, Ar(i)ig i'oiiimimoiier. 

KxilIHIT 41. 

Extract from the report of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes^, dated May 16, 1903. 

The Skcretary op the Interior. 

Sir: We have the honor to snl)mit heri>with the following statement of the work 
of the Conunission to the Five Civilized Tribes for the month of April, 190o: 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 75 

CHEROKEK ALLOTMENT DIVISION. 

Approximately 1,000 tirkets of aduiission to the Cherokee land offii-e were issued 
durinij: the month of April, making a total of 7,S00 issued since the otfire was established 
on Jauuai-y 1, lUOo. ()f this number SOO were issued to fullblood Cherokees, and 
entitleil the holders to appear at the land oliire at any time and make applications 
for their allotuients. Of tlie 7,800 tickets issucnl, approximately 2,o00 have been 
presented at the land ottice.- 

Applications for 2,384 allotments and homesteads were received durinji April. Of 
this numl)er 1,.518 were approved. The ajiproval of 6.37 was withheld because the 
enrollment of the applicants as citizens of the Cherokee Nation had not been finally 
approved by the Secretary of the Interior; 1.^4 because the land applied for had 
already been allotted; 63 because the land applied for was eui braced in the 157,600 
acres of land which the Commission caused to be segregated for the Dela^vare Indians, 
and 12 because the land applied for was embraced in various tentative reservations 
theretofore made. 

IXiring the month of April, 1903, 149,715.61 acres of land, valued at $532,187.06, 
were alloted to citizens of the Cherokee Nation. 

Apjiroximately 750 allotment certificates and an equal number of homestead cer- 
tificates have been written, and as soon as the allotments have been shown thereon 
in color will be forwarded to the applicants. 

Five hundred allotment certificates and an equal number of homestead certificates 
which had been executed by the Commission were forwarded to the allottees in such 
cases as contest had not been entered or other objection found to exist. 

Comforuiable to the plan theretofore advertised through<jut the Cherokee Nation, 
the land office was, on April 30, removed from Vinita to Tahlequah, Ind. T., there 
to be maintained indefinitely. 

During the period of four months that the Cherokee land office was located at 
Vinita, Ind. T., allotments were made to 6,813 persons. A nund)er of the apjjli- 
cants presented themselves a second time and applied for additional lands, making a 
total of 7,987 applications for allotments received at Vinita. Of this numljer 5,293 
were approved. The approval of 2,148 was withheld because the enrollment oi the 
applicants as citizens of the Cherokee Nation had not been finally approved by the 
Secretary of the Interior; 343 because the land applied for had already l)een allotted 
to other citizens; 176 because the land applied for was embraced in the 157,600 acres 
of land which the Commission caused to be segregated for the Delaware Indians 
pending the final determination of the suit instituted by the Delawares against the 
Cherokee Nation, and 27 because the laud applied for was embraced in tentative res- 
ervations theretofore made for certain towns and other purposes in the Cherokee 
Nation. 

ALLOTMENT-CONTEST DIVISION. 

The progress of the work in the allotment-contest division during the month of 
April and the condition of contested allotment cases at the close of the month, as 
indicated by the records of that division, are shown by the following detailed 
statement: 



Cherokee Nation. 

Contests instituted jirior to April 1 22 

Complaints filed during April 120 

Complaints returned for correction during A pn\ 27 

Contests instituted during April 93 

Total 115 

Contest disposed of prior to April 1 1 

Contest disposed of during April 1 

Contests pending before the Commission April 30 112 

Contest pending before the Department April 30 1 

Total 115 

The condition of the 112 Cherokee contest cases pending liefore the Commission 
on April 30 was as follows: 

Set for trial 4(5 

Awaiting final determination of citizenship 23 



76 MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Involved in Delaware segregation 6 

Awaiting action on complaint 27 

Awaiting decision 8 

Awaiting issuance of notice of dismissal 1 

Continued indefinitely 1 

Total - 112 

The Cherokee case pending before the Dejiartment on "April 30 was awaiting action 
of the Dejiartment as to ordering a hearing on the complaint. * * * 
Respectfully submitted. 

Tams Bixby, Chairman. 

T. B. Needles, Commissioner. 

C. R. Breckinridge, Commissioner. 

, Commissioner. 

(Through the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. ) 



Exhibit 42. 

Department of the Interior, 
Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes. 



Sec. 32. 



CHEROKEE LAND OFFICE. 

Township No. 25 N., range No. 19 E. 



Sec. 































^/ 


























1 








James 


-. Hurd 






























I 
















i 






-i 










: 
: 


: 
























• 










































































1 









Sec. 



Sec. 



All land filed is embraced in Delaware segregation. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 77 

Exhibit 43. 

Commission to the Five Civilized Trihes, 

Tahlequah, Ind. T., Mivj ^0, 190S. 
John H. Secoxdixe, Whitcoak, Ind. T. 

Dear Sik: The Coniniission is in receipt of your letter of May 10, also your letter 
of May 12, complaining that certain lancl which you hold as aliotnients iii the Cher- 
okee Nation for yourself and family, and which is a i)art (if the Io7,ti00 acres of land 
segregated for the Delaware Indians, has been tiled on l)y one George Hurd. You 
ask to be advised just what land George Ilurd has filed on in township 25 north, 
range 19 east of the Indian meridian, and how your rights are to l)e i)rotected in 
view of the fact that you yourst'lf are a Delaware citizen of the Clierf)kee Nation and 
not ])ermitted to make ajtplicatinn for land endiraced in the Delaware segregation. 

The records of the Commission show that you are regularly listed for enrollment 
as a Delaware citizen of the Cherokee Nation, but that yoiir wife and children are 
enrolled as Cherokees l)y blood. 

There is inclosed you herewith a plat showing the lantl tiled on by George Hurd 
for Leroy and James F. Hurd. The land shown on tliis plat lies in the Delaware 
segregation and no final allotment of same will be made until the suit now pending 
to determine the rights of Delaware citizens of the Cherokee Nation, has been 
deternnned. 

If this land is a part of the allotment which you propose to select for your wife, 
you are advised that you can appear before the Cherokee land office at the earliest 
possible date and make application for the allotment of the land in (juestion, with a 
view to beginning contest proceedings therefor. 

If it is a part of the land which you propose to select for yourself or children, you 
are advised that, while the Commission has no authority to refuse to receive a con- 
test complaint in any case, or to refuse to consider suc'h complaint when the same is 
properly tiled before it, has, however, authority to deny a hearing of a complaint when 
the case is deemed insufficient, or to hold the contest open pending the determina- 
tion of some collateral question involving the land in controversy, or the citizenship 
of the parties, when such action is thought advisable. 

Respectfully, C. R. Breckixridge, 

Commissioner in charge Cherokee jAind Office. 



Exhibit 44. 

Departmext of the Interior, Office of Ixdiax Affairs, 

Washington, June 4, 1903. 
The Secretary of the Interior. 

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith report of the Commission to the Five 
Civilized Tribes of its work accomplished during the month of April, 1903. I recom- 
mend that the report be approved. 

Very respectfully, A. C. Toxxer, Acting Commissioner. 



Exhibit 4o. 

Dei'aktmext of the Ixtekior, 

Washington, June 6, 1908. 
The Commissioxer of Ixdiax Affairs. 

Sir: Referring to the Acting Commissioner's communication of June 4, 1903, there 
is inclosed departmental letter to be forwarded to the Commission to the Five Civil- 
ized Tribes, approving, as reconnnended by the Acting Commissioner, its report of 
work done during the month of Ajiril, 1903, by the Commission. 

By departmental letter of December 22, 1900, your attention was invited to the 
statement in the Commission's monthly report for Novend)er, 19(10, as to the num- 
ber of contests pending on appeal, and it was stated that "the Department desires 
that hereafter your oflice should report upon the .status of the apjieals and other 
matters transmitted by the Commission for the consideration of the Department 
when you transmit the report of tiie Commission." 

You are requested to make a report, as heretofore directed, upon tin- mattei-s con- 
tained in said report of the Commission concerning the status of ajipeals, etc. 
Respectfully, 

Tiios. Rvax, Acting Se(rctonj 



78 MEMOKIAL OF THE DELAWAEE INDIANS. 

Exhibit 46. 

In the supreme court of the Dintrict of Columbia. Holding an equity court. George 
Bullelte, Henry Armstrong, John H. Secondyne, John Young, John Sarcoxie, jr., 
and Richard C. Adams, on their behalf and on behalf of the Delaware tribe of 
Indians, residing in the Indian Territory, and George Bullette, Henry Armstrong, 
John Young, and John Sarcoxie, jr., a business committee duly appointed by the 
members of the tribe of Delaware Indians, comi^lainants, v. Ethan Allen Hitch- 
cock, Secretary of the Interior, and Tams Bixby, Thomas B. Needles, Clifton R. 
Breckenridge, and William E. Stanley, members of and composing the Commission 
to the Five Civilized Tribes, defendants. In equity. No. 23991. 

Answer of the defendant, Etlian Allen Hitchcock, as Secretary of the Interior, to tlie bill of 

complaint. -^ 

The defendant, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, a& Secretary of the Interior, now and at 
all times hereafter saving and reserving to himself all manner of benefit and advan- 
tage of exception to the many errors and insufficiencies in the complainant's said 
bill of complaint contained for answer thereuntr^, or to so much of such parts thereof 
as this defendant is advised is material for him to make answer unto, answers and 
says: 

I. This defendant neither admits nor denies the allegations of the first paragraph 
of the bill of comijlaint, and calls for strict proof thereof. 

II. This defendant admits the allegation of the second paragraph of the bill of 
complaint. 

HI. This defendant denies that the Delaware Indians are a band of the Cherokee 
tribe or nation, or that since the 8th day of April, 1867, they have preserved their 
tribal organization, or have maintained their tribal laws, customs, and usages, as set 
forth in the third paragraph of the bill of complaint, but admits that said Delaware 
Indians, as individuals, became and are (dtizens of the Cherokee Nation, by virtue of 
the agreement of April 8, 1867. 

IV. This defendant, answering the allegations set forth in the fourth paragraph of 
the bill of complaint, denies that an agreement was entered into by and l)etween the 
Cherokee Nation of Indians and the Delaware tribe of Indians, then living in Kansas, 
whereby said Cherokee Nation sold to the Delawares an amount of land east of the 
ninety-sixth degree, as alleged in said paragraph four; and further answering the 
allegations set forth in said paragraph, he alleges that on the 8th day of April, 1867, 
the Cherokee Nation agreed to sell to the Delawares, for their occuj^ancy, the quantity 
of land named in said paragraph, upon the terms and conditions therein set forth; and 
further answering the allegations set forth in said paragraph, defendant admits each 
and every one of them not heretofore denied ; and further answering the allegations set 
forth in said paragraph, this defendant further alleges that the said 157,600 acres of 
land mentioned and described in said paragraph has not been set apart or segregated. 

V. This defendant admits the allegations set forth in the fifth paragraph of the bill 
of complaint. 

VI. This defendant, answering the allegations set forth in the sixth paragraph of 
the bill of complaint, alleges that there has been no segragation of the 157,600 acres 
of land mentioned and descril)ed therein, and as to the other allegations set forth in 
said paragraph, the same are admitted. 

VII. VIII, and IX. This defendant admits the allegations set forth in the seventh, 
eighth and ninth paragraphs of the bill of complaint. 

X. This defendant, answering the allegations set forth in the tenth paragraph of 
the bill of complaint, alleges that by section 22 of the act of June 1, 1902 (32 Stat. 
L., 716, 718), exclusive jurisdiction is conferred upon the Commission to the Five 
Civilized Tribes, under the direction of the Secretar}' of the Interior, to determine 
all matters relative to the ap]iraisement and allotment of the lands in said act pro- 
vided for; and this defendant, further answering the allegations set forth in said 
paragraph, admits that under section 69 of said act, after the expiration of nine 
months from the date of the original selection of any allotment by or for any 
Cherokee citizen, no contest should be instituted against >uch selection, and that as 
early thereafter as pi-actical)le a ]>atent should is ue therefor. 

XI and XII. This defendant is advised by counsel that the allegations set forth in 
the eleventh and twelfth paragraphs of said bill of complaint are matters of law, and 
not necessary to be answered. 

XIII. This defendant, answering the allegations set forth in the thirteenth para- 
graph of the l)ill of complaint, alleges as follows : That on December 16, 1902, there 
was filed with the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes a list or schedule of lands 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 79 

aggregating 157,600 arre^, alleged to have been theretofore selected hy the Delaware 
Indians and claimed l)y them under their agreement witli the Cherokee Nation dated 
April 8, 1867; that thereafter, and (mi December 17, 1902, saitl Conuuission, liy resolu- 
tion, instructed Tarns Bixhy, defendant herein, and who was at the time acting chair- 
mpi of said Commission, to cause to be set aside and segregated tlie lands designated 
and described in said list or schedule; that thereafter, and in compliance with said 
resolution, said defendant Bixby, as acting chairman of the said Commission, caused 
the tracts described in said schedule to be marked on maps or i)lats of lauds within 
the Cherokee Nation, on file in the ottice of the Commission, as set aside under said 
section 2:^ of the act of July 1, 1902: that thereafter, and upon further examination, 
the said Commission to the Five Civilizt'd Tril)es discovered numerous errors in said 
list or schedule and called the attention tiieretoof the person who had theretofore hied 
the si\me; that thereafter, and on January 2:>, lOOo, the said Counnission received from 
a person claimingto be a representative of the Delaware tribe of Indians an alleged 
corrected list or schedule of lands selected by them, aggregating about lo7,600acres, in 
the Cherokee Nation; that thereafter tiie list or schedule tile(i on December 16, 1902, 
was corrected to correspond withthelistor scheduleas tiled on Jaiuiary2.S, 1903. and said 
corrected list or schedule was accej)tecl by said Counnission as a pro])er designation of 
the lands to be selected and segregateil under the provisions of said section 23 of the 
act aforesaid; that thereafter a number of Cherokee citizens not Delawares comjjlaiiied 
to the Commission that the list or schedule so corrected embraced a large (piautity of 
lands which had theretofore been in their possession and u])on which they had made 
improvements and which had not been occui)ied or improved by the Delawares or any 
of them ; that since the tiling of said list or schedule as corrected a number of Delaware 
Indians have made complaint to the C()unnission that said corrected list or schedule 
did not ini-lude lands which had theretofore t)een selected and occujiied by them, 
and thereupon made request to the Counnission to be allowed to make tinal selectitms 
of lands containing improvements upon which they resided and which were not 
included in said corrected list or schedule; that since the acceptance of said corrected 
list or schedule the Commission has disi-overed that it includes lands which were i)y 
law reserved for town site and other purjjoses, and not subject to be set apart and 
segregated under the provisions of said section 23. 

This defendant further alleges that the lands designated and described in the afore 
said corrected list or schedule were not selected with due regard for either the Dela- 
ware citizens generally or other citizens of the Cherokee Nation, and that said cor- 
rected list or schedule endjraces lands which by law are reserved ftn* town site and 
other purposes under the provisions of section 24 of the aforesaid act of July 1, 1902. 
This defendant further alleges that on Ai)ril 20, 1903, the Commission made report 
of its acts and proceedings with resi)ect to the filing and acceptance of the aforesaid 
list or schedule of lands to the Secretary of the Interior for his approval, which 
report was received l)y the defendant as Secretary of the Interior on April 30, 1903, 
and has not been fully considered by him, nor have the acts and proceedings of the 
Commission, as set forth in this paragraph of the answer of this defendant, received 
his approval as Secretary of the Interior; neither has he accepted or approved said 
corrected list or schedule as a proper description and designation of the lands 
required i)y said section 23 to be segregated. 

XIV. This defendant is advised by counsel that the allegations set forth in the 
fourteenth paragraph of the bill of complaint are matters of law, and not necessary 
to be answered. 

XV. Answering the allegations as set forth in the fifteenth paragrapli of the 
bill of complaint, this defendant denies that the Commission to the Five Civilized 
Tribes now claims to have the right to receive applications for the allotment of lands 
designated and describe<l in the lists referred to in jiaragraph 13 of the bill of com- 
plaint, or now claims to have the right, upon the filing of any such a])plications, to 
consider that the individual Delawares are barred and foreclosed of any interest 
in the 157,600 acres of land to be segregated bv section 23 of the act of Congress of 
July 1, 1902. 

XVI. This defendant admits that the suit referred to in paragraph 16 of the bill of 
complaint is pending in the Supreme Court of the Cnite<l States, and denies each 
and every other allegation in said jiaragraph. 

XVII. This defendant denies that the Commission and the Secretary of the 
Interior, or either of them, has disregarded any protest made to them or to either 
of them by the Delaware Indians, ()r any agent thereof, as alleged and set forth in 
the seventeenth paragraph of the bill of complaint, and alleges that all protests made 
to said Commission and to the Secretary were being considered by this defemlant, a.s 
Secretary of the Interior, in connection with the acts and proceedings of said Com- 
mission under said section 23 of the act of July 1, 1902, at the time of the filing of 



80 MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

the bill of complaint herein, and that appropriate action thereon and on such acts 
and proceedings of said ConiniiHsion has not been taken because of the issuance of 
the temporary restraining order herein. 

XVIII. This defendant is advised Ijy counsel that the allegations set forth in the 
eighteenth paragraph of the bill of complaint are matters of law, and not necessary 
to be answered. 

XIX. For answer to the nineteenth paragraph of the bill of complaint this defend- 
ant alleges that there has been no segregation of the 157,600 acres of land, and in 
this connection refers to paragraph thirteen of this answer. He denies that the said 
Commission has done any acts to interfere with or prejudice the rights nf the com- 
plainants, or either of them, to any lands in the Cherokee Nation to which they are 
entitled, or that he, as such Secretary of the Interior, has done any acts or threatened 
to do any acts which in any way interfere with or prejudice the rights of the com- 
plainants, or either of them, to any of the lands claimed by them in the Cherokee 
Nation. 

XX. With respect to the allegations set forth in the twentieth paragraph of the 
bill of complaint, this defendant says that when the segregation of lands provided for 
in section 23 of said act of July 1, 1902, is made and approved, no allotments will be 
made of any lands included in said segregation until the suit mentioned in said sec- 
tion 23 is finall}' determined, nor will any action be taken by said Commission, 
or by this defendant as Secretary of the Interior, which will in any way prejudice 
the rights of the Delaware Indians to the lands included in said segregation. 

XXI. This defendant, answering the allegations set forth in the twenty-tirst para- 
graph of the bill of complaint, alleges that he has not sufficient knowledge or infor- 
mation upon which to base a belief as to the truth of said allegations, and therefore 
denies the same. 

XXII and XXIII. This defendant is advised by counsel that the allegations set 
forth in the twenty-second and twenty-third paragraphs of the bill of complaint are 
matters of law, and not necessary to be answered. 

XXIV. Answering the allegations set forth in the twenty-fourth paragraph of the 
bill of complaint, this defendant denies that any acts of said Connnission, or of this 
defendant as such Secretary of the Interior, have caused or will cause a multiplicity 
of suits, or have caused or will cause any loss, inconvenience, or damage whatever to 
the complainants, or any of them. 

XXV. Answering the allegations set forth in the twenty-fifth paragraph of the 
bill of complaint, this defendant alleges, as he has heretofore alleged in the thirteenth 
paragraph of this answer, that no segregation as required by law has been made. 
And further answering the allegation set forth in said paragraph, this defendant 
denies that the Commission has unlawfully ])ermitted an application to be filed with 
respect to the lands claimed by Richard C. Adams, or that any contest has been 
initiated with respect to the same. And this defendant further alleges that if any 
person or persons have gone upon, taken possession of, or committed acts of trespass 
or waste with respect to any lands claimed by said Richard C. Adams, or threatened 
injury to said lands and premises claimed by him, such acts and proceedings upon 
the part of third persons have Ijeen done and performed without the knowledge and 
consent of this defendant or of said Commission. 

XXVI. Answering the twenty-sixth paragraph of the bill of complaint, this defend- 
ant alleges, as he has heretofore alleged in the thirteenth paragraph hereof, that no 
segregation of 157,600 acres of land has been made as required by law. 

XXVIj. Answering the allegations as set forth in paragraph 26 j of the l)ill of 
complaint, this defendant admits that by the several acts of Congress creating and 
defining the powers of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, and all the acts 
and proceedings of said Commission under said laws, are subject to the direction of the 
Secretary of the Interior; and this defendant denies that the acts and proceedings of 
the Commission with respect to said lists or schedules of land received, by said Com- 
mission as heretofore mentioned, were done by the direction and with the approval 
of this defendant as such Secretary of the Interior. 

XXVII. XXVIII, and XXIX. This defendant is advised by counsel that the alle- 
gations set forth in the twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, and twenty-ninth paragraphs 
of the bill of complaint have all been sufliciently answered. 

And further answering the bill of complaint, this defendant, as such Secretary of 
the Interior, alleges that this defendant, as such Secretary of the Interior, and the 
Connnission to the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians constitute a special tribunal 
whose duty it is to segregate and allot the lands in the Cherokee Nation; that the 
performance of this duty recfuires upon the part of said tribunal the exercise of 
judgment and discretion; that the segregation provided for in section 23 of the act 
aforesaid, before it is complete or effective, must be approved by this defendant as 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 81 

such Secretary of the Interior; that this (hity involves npon his part a*i such Sei-re- 
tary the exercise of judfinicnt and discretion, and is not, as he is advised, suy)ject to 
review, control, or interference ])y the jndicial branch of the Government in injunc- 
tion proceedings; and this defendant jirays the same benefit of his defense as if he 
had formally denmrred to the bill ujiun the <iround thereof; all which matters and 
things in this answer contained this defendant is read}- to aver, maintain, and prove 
as this honorable court shall direct, and humbly prays to be hence disnjissed with 
his reasonable costs and charges in this behalf most wrongfully sustained. 

E. A. Hitchcock, 
Secretary of the Interior. 



Solicitor for Defendant, Ethan Allen Hitcltcock. 



United States ok America, District of Columbia, ss: 

Ethan Allen Hitchcock, being duly sworn, deposes and says, that he has read the 
foregoing answer subscribed by him and knows the contents thereof; that the facts 
therein stated of his own knowledge are true, and those stated upon information and 
belief he believes to be true. 

E. A. Hitchcock. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 19th day of June, 1903. 

[notarial seal.] W. Bertrand Acker, 

Xotary Public in and for the District of Columbia. 



Exhibit 47. 

In the supreme court of the District of Columbia. George Bullette et als., complain- 
ants, r. Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Secretarv of the Interior, et als., defendants. 
In equity, No. 23991. 

Now come the complainants and by their solicitors move the court for leave to 
amend their bill of complaint by adding to Paragraph XIII thereof the following 
averments : 

That the acts and proceedings of said Commission and of the Commissioner of 
Indian Affairs and of the defendant, the Secretary of the Interior, in the administra- 
tion and execution of the provisions of said section 23 of said act of Congress are 
fully set forth in the report of the said Commission dated October 20, 1902, and in 
the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs dated November 22, 1902, and in 
the letter of the defendant, the Secretary of the Interior, relating thereto, dated 
November 29, 1902, and in the report of said Commission dated March 17, 1908, and 
in the report of the Conanissioner of Indian Affairs dated ^March 27, 1903, and in the 
letter of the defendant, the Secretary of the Interior, relative thereto, dated March 
31, 1903, and in the report of said Commission dated April 20, 1903, and in the rei)orts 
of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs dated April 28 and April 30, 1903, copies of 
which reports and letters (except those dated respectively ^larch 17, INIarch 27, and 
March 31, which the complainants have not been able to obtain) are filed herewith and 
made part hereof, and are marked respectively Delaware Exhibits "A," "B," "C," 
"D," "E," and "F." 

That it appears from said reports and letters and the fact is that the segregation of 
said 157,000 acres of land was made and completed by said Commission as required 
by the provisions of said section 23 in the month of becemlier, 1902, and was held 
and considered by the said Commission and by the Secretary of the Interior as having 
been made and c<)mi)leted 1)y said Commission and by the Secretary of the Interior, 
and was in fact then appro\ ed and considered to have been approved by the Secre- 
tary of the Interior, and thereupon, and after said segregation had l)een made, and 
because it was held by the Secretary of the Interior to have been made in compliance 
■with tlie law, the said Commission proceeded, under the direction ami with the 
approval of the defendant, the Secretary of the Interior, to the allotment of tiie 
remaining lands as authorized and required by said act, and on or about the 1st of 
January, 1903, said Commission opened the land office at Vinita, Ind. T., for the 
purpose of receiving ai)plications from Cherokees for lands other than those so 
segregated and making allotments therefor; that after said land office was opened as 

S. Doc. 16 6 



82 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

aforesaid — during the months of January and February, 1903^ — more than 1,600 appli- 
cations were tiled and more than 1,800 allotments were made and reported and the 
report thereof approved by the defendant, the Secretary of the Interior; that said 
office continued open until the time of filing this suit — in June, 1903 — during which 
time more than 8,000 applications, covering more than 800,000 acres of land, were 
made, and more than 5,000 allotments, covering over 500,000 acres of land, were 
reported, and the records thereof were aj^proved by the defendant, the Secretary of 
the Interior. 

And that the approval of said allotments M'as based upon and followed the segre- 
gation of said land as aforesaid and could not have been legally made, and would 
not have been, and would not be valid if said segregation has not been made as 
required by the terms of said section 23 as preliminary and as a prerequisite to the 
making of said allotments. 

Walter S. Logan, 
Nathaniel Wilson, 
George S. Chase, 

Solicitors. 
District of Columbia, ss: 

Richard C. Adams, being first duly sworn, deposes and says that he has read the 
foregoing and proposed amendment to the bill of complaint in the above-entitled 
case; that the facts therein stated as of his own knowledge are true, and those stated 
on information, derived from others, he believes to be true. 

Richard C. Adams. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 23d day of June, A. D. 1903. 

George F. Graham, 
Nolarij Puhlic, Didvict Columbia. 

Notice to Morgan H. Beach of calling up motion Friday, June 26, 1903, at 10 
o'clock, before Mr. Justice Anderson. 



Exhibit 48. 

In the supreme court of the District of Columbia, George Bullette et al., complain- 
ants, V. Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Secretary of the Interior et al., defendants. In 
equity. No. 23991. 

Ansiver of defendant, Ethan. Allen HilcJtcocJ:, to the amendment to the hill of complaint. 

Comes now the defendant, Ethen Allen Hitchcock, as Secretary of the Interior, 
and, saving and reserving to himself all manner of benefit and advantage of exception 
to the many errors and insufficiencies in the amendment to the complainants' bill of 
complaint, for answer thereto, or to so much of such parts thereof as he is advised is 
material for him to make answer unto, alleges as follows : 

(1) Defendant, as such Secretary, denies that the acts and proceedings of the 
Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians, and of this defendant as Secretary 
of the Interior, or either of them, in the administration and execution of the provi- 
sions of section 23 of the act of July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. L., 716,718), are fully set forth 
in the report of the Connnission of October 30, 1902, the report of the Commissioner 
of Indian Affairs of November 22, 1902, the letter of this defendant, as such Secre- 
tary, of November 29, 1902, the report of the Commission of March 17, 1903, the 
report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of March 27, 1903, the letter of this 
defendant, as such Secretary, of March 30, 1903, the report of the Commission of 
April 20, 1903, and the reports of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of Ajiril 28 and 
April 30, 1903, as alleged and set forth in said amendment to the complainants' bill 
of complaint. 

(2) Defendant, as such Secretary, denies that there has been any segregation of 
157,600 acres of land, or that from said reports and letters, or from either or any of 
them, it ap]>ears that any segregation of land was made and completed by the Com- 
mission as recjuired by the i)rovisions of said section 23 of tiie act of July 1, 1902, or 
that it appears from said reports and letters, or from either or any of them, tiiat it 
was held and considered by the Commission or Ijy the Secretary of the Interior, or 
either of them, as iiaving been made and completed by said Connnission and by 
the Secretary of the Interior, or either of them, or was in fact approved or con- 
sidered to have been ajjproved by the Secretary of the Interior, as alleged and set 
forth in the amendment to said bill of comijlaint. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 83 

(3) Defendant, as such Secretary, denies that the Commission to the Five CiviHzed 
Tribes proceeded to the allotment of an\' of the lands in the Cherokee >sation under 
the direction and with the api)roval of this defendant, as such Secretary of the 
Interior, as alleged and set forth in the amendment to said bill of comjilaint. 

(4) This defendant, as such Secretiiry, further answering the allegations in the 
amendment to the l)ill of comj)laint, alleges that on or about the 1st day of January, 
190:;}, the Connnission to the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians opened a land otiice 
at Vinita, Ind. T., for the purpose of receiving and passing upon applications 
from Cherokee citizens not Dela wares for lands in the Cherokee Nation; that there- 
after, and until the tiling of the bill of complaint herein, the Connnission received 
and i)assed upon applications for allotments made by mend)ers of the Cherokee 
Nation not Delawares, but no applications for allotments thus j-eceived and ]>assed 
upon by said Connnission have been approved l)y this defendant as such Secretary 
of the interior; that at the time of the tiling of the bill of com])laint herein this 
defendant, as such Secretary, was considering the acts and proceedings of saiil Com- 
mission in so receiving and passing upon allotments, in order to determine whether 
said acts and j^roceedings were in conformity with the requirements of the aforesaid 
act of July 1, 1902. 

(5) This defendant, as such Secretary, further alleges that the title to all the lands 
in the Cherokee Nation is still held by said nation; that until the title to lands 
embraced in any segregation provided for in section 23 of the act aforesaid has passed 
from said nation, this defendant, as such Secretary, has, under the law, full i>ower and 
authority to correct, modify, annul, vacate, or set aside, any segregation of lands in the 
Cherokee Nation theretofore made by the Commission, notwithstanding said segrega- 
tion may have received the approval of this defendant as such Secretary; and further, 
that this defendant, as such Secretary, until the title to the lands embraced in any allot- 
ment has passed from the Cherokee Nation, has full power and authority to correct, 
modify, ai.nul, vacate, or set aside, anyallotment received and passed upon by the Com- 
mission, notwithstanihng the allotment may theretofore have been approved by this 
defendant as such Secretary of the Interior; and this defendant prays the same 
bentit of the defense alleged in this paragraph as if he had formerly demurred to the 
bill upon the ground thereof. 

All of which matters and things in this answer contained this defendant is ready 
to aver, maintain, and prove, as this honorable court shall direct, and humbly prays 
to be hence dismissed with reasonable costs and charges in this behalf most w'rongfuUy 
sustained. 

United States of America, District of Columbia, ss: 

Ethan Allen Hitchcock, being duly sworn, deposes and says that he has read the 
foregoing answer to the amendment to the bill of complaint subscribed by him and 
knows the contents thereof; that the facts therein stated of his own knowledge are 
true, and those stated upon information and belief he believes to be true. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me this day of June, 1903. 



Notari/ Public. 



Exhibit 49. 



In the supreme court of the District of Colundjia. Holding an equity court. 
Ceorge Bullette et al. on their own behalf and on behalf of the Delaware trilie of 
Indians residing in the Indian Territory, complainants, r. Ethan Allen Hitchcock, 
as Secretary of the Interior, et al., defendants. In equity, No. 23991. 

Affidavit of Etlian Allen Hitchcock in xupport of motion to dissolve temporary restraining 

order. 

Ethan Allen Hitchcock, being first duly sworn, upon his oath doth depose and say: 
That he is and since the 20th day of February, 1899, has been Secretary of the Inte- 
rior; that as such Secretary he is one of the defendants in the above-entitled action; 
that the defendants, Tams Eixby, Thomas B. Needles, Clifton K. Breckenridge, and 
William E. Stanley, are members of and constitute what is known as the Connnis- 
sion to the Fi.e Civilized Tribes of Indians, provided for by section 16 of the act of 
March 3, 1893 (27 Stat. L., 612, 645), and the amendments thereto; that as such Sec- 
retary of the Interior this deponent is charged by sections 441 and 463 of the Revised 



8rt MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Statutes of the United States with the supervision and direction of all public busi- 
ness relating to the Indians, the management of Indian affairs, and the management 
of matters arising out of Indian business, and by section 22 of the act of July 1, 
1902 (32 Stat. L., 716, 718), he is especially charged with thedirection, supervision, and 
control of all matters in respect to the appraisement and allotment of lands within 
the Cherokee Nation. 

And dei)onent further says that by section 23 of the act last mentioned authority 
is conferred upon said Commission, under the direction of the Secretary of the 
Interior, to cause to be segregated 157,600 acres of land in the Cherokee Nation, 
including lands which have been selected and occupied by Delawares in conformity 
with the provisions of their agreement with the Cherokees dated April 8, 1867; that 
in making a list of lands to be so segregated it is incumbent upon said Commission to 
include therein any and all lands which have been selected and occupied by Dela- 
wares in conformity to the provisions of their agreement with the Cherokees of April 
8, 1867, and to exclude therefrom lands occupied and which have been improved by 
other Cherokee citizens, or any of them; also to exclude all lands set aj)art for town 
sites by the provisions of the acts of June 28, 1898 (30 Stat. L., 495), May 31, 1900 
(31 Stat. L., 221 ), and of July 1, 1902, supra; also to reserve all other lands as provided 
for in section 24 of the last-named act, and to forward a list of the lands so required 
to be segregated to the Secretary of the Interior for his approval. 

And this deponent further says that the segi'egation so required to be made before 
it is complete and effective must be approved by the Secretary of the Interior. 
Further, that on December 16, 1902, said Commission permitted to be filed with it 
by Walter S. Logan, claiming to be the attorney for tlie Delaware Indians, an alleged 
schedule or list of lands aggregating 157,600 acres within the Cherokee Nation, and 
on DecemVjer 17, 1902, said Commission, Vjy resolution, instructed its acting chairman 
to cause to be set aside and segregated the lands designated and described in said 
schedule or list, and thereafter said acting chairman caused the tracts so described in 
said schedule or list to be marked upon maps or plats of lands in the (Cherokee Nation 
on file in the office of said Commission as set aside under said section 23. That there- 
after and upon further investigation the said Commission discovered numerous errors 
in said schedule or list and called the attention of said Logan thereto. That on Jan- 
uary 23, 1903, the Commission received from Richard C. Adams, claiming to repre- 
sent the Delaware Indians, an alleged corrected schedule or list of lands selected by 
them, aggregating 157,600 acres in the Cherokee Nation, and subsequently the schedule 
or list filed by Logan was corrected to correspond with the schedule or list filed by 
Adams; that thereafter the Commission made a report to this deponent, as such Sec- 
retary of the Interior, of its actions and proceedings with respect to the segregation 
of 157,600 acres of land in the Cherokee Nation, which report was received by him 
April 30, 1903, and stated, among other things, in effect that the Commission 
believed that the lands embraced in said lists or schedules had not been selected 
with due regard for the interests of either the Delaware citizens generally or other 
citizens of the Cherokee Nation, and that said lands had been selected without any 
intention whatever of conforming to the laws relating to the establishment of 
town sites. 

And this deponent, as such Secretary of the Interior, further says that in order to 
determine whether the acts and proceedings of said Commission with respect to set- 
ting apart the 157,600 acres of land aforesaid should be approved and the said lists 
or schedules of lands should be accepted as a proper designation and description of 
the lands by section 23 required to be segregated and set apart, he was, in the due 
and regular course of official business, immediately prior to and at the time of the 
institution of the suit herein, considering the report of said Commission with respect 
to its said acts and proceedings, and investigating and examining said acts and pro- 
ceedings with the view of ascertaining whether said acts and proceedings were in 
conformity with the statutes in such case made and provided, and whether said lists 
or schedules included all lands which had been theretofore selected and occupied by 
the Delawares, and whether said lists or schedules included any lands which by law 
should not be included therein. And this deponent, as such Secretary of the Interior, 
farther says that before completing the consideration of said report and before com- 
pleting said investigation and examination, he was, as such Secretary, served with 
the restraining order of this court issued in this suit, which restraining order in 
effect commands him to desist from ])roceeding further with his examination and 
investigation. 

And this deponent, as such Secretary of the Interior, furtlu^r says that from the 
investigation heretofore made by him with respect to the actions and })roceedings of 
said Connnission in regard to the segregation of the said 157,600 acres of land, it 
appears that said acts and proceedings were not done and performed in conformity 
with the statute, and that from his examination of the said lists or schedules he 
believes that the same do not include all the lands theretofore occupied and selected 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 85 

by Delawares, and do include lands which, under the law, are reserved for town-site 
and other purposes, and lands which, prior to the filinfj; of said lists or schedules, 
were in the possession of and had been improved by other Cherokees, not Delawares; 
further, that the rights of a larj^e number of Delaware Indians have been ignored by 
those who made and tiled said lists or schedules. And this deponent, as such Secre- 
tary of the Interior, further says that his api)roval or disapproval of the acts and 
proceedings of said Commission, or his approval or disapi)roval of said lists or 
schedules aforesaid, require on his part, as such Secretary of the Interior, an investi- 
gation of facts and an exauiination of laws; further, that tlie duty of directing and 
supervising the acts and proceedings of said Commission, the duty of approving or 
disapproving said acts and proceedings, and the duty of accepting or rejecting the 
lists or schedules of lands so filed witii said Commission, as aforesaid, involves upon 
his part the exercise of judgment and discretion, and is not, as he is advised, subject 
to interference or control by the judicial branch of the Government in injunction 
proceedings. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , A. D. 1903. 



Exhibit 50. 

In the supreme court of the District of Columbia. Holding an equity court. George 
Bullette et al., on their own behalf and on behalf of the Delaware tribe of Indians 
residing in the Indian Territory, complainants, v. Ethan Allen Hitchcock, as 
Secretary of the Interior, et al., defendants. In equity, No. 23991. 

Affidavit of Tarns Bixhy in support of motion to dissolve temporary restraining order. 

Tarns Bixby, being first duly sworn, upon his oath doth depose and say: That for 
six years last past he has been a member of what is known as the Commission to the 
Five Civilized Tribes of Indians provided for by section 16 of the act of March 3, 
1893 (27 Stat. L., 612, 645) , and the amendments thereto, and that he is now and for 
three months last past has been the chairman of said Commission; that as such 
member of said Commission he is one of the defendants in the above-entitled action; 
that by section 22 of the act of July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. L., 716, 718), exclusive jurisdic- 
tion is conferred upon said Commission, under the direction of the Secretary of the 
Interior, to determine all matters relative to the appraisement and the allotment of 
lands in the Cherokee Nation; that section 23 of said act imposes upon said Commission 
the duty to cause to be segregated 157,600 acres of land, including lands which have 
selected and occupied by the Delawares in conformity to the provisions of their 
agreement with the Cherokees, dated April 8, 1867, and in making such selection to 
protect the rights of all the Delaware Indians claiming to be entitled to lands under 
and in pursuance of the aforesaid agreement, and to exclude from such segregation 
lands which had theretofore been occupied and improved by other Cherokee citi- 
zens, and also to exclude all lands reserved and set apart for town sites by the pro- 
visions of the acts of June 28, 1898 (30 Stat. L., 495), May 31, 1900 (31 Stat. L., 221), 
and section 24 of the act of July 1, 1902, supra. 

That on December 16, 1902," there was filed with said Commission by Waiter S. 
Logan, claiming to l^e the attorney for the Delaware Indians, a schedule of lands, 
aggregating 157,600 acres, alleged to have been theretofore selected by the Delawares 
and claimed by them under the aforesaid agreement of April 8, 1867; that on Decem- 
ber 17, 1902, by resolution of said Commission, this deponent, as acting chairman 
thereof, was instructed to cause to be set aside and segregated tiie lands designated 
and described in the aforesaid schedule; that in compliance with said resolution this 
deponent, as acting chairman, caused the tracts described in said schedule to be 
marked upon maps or plats of land in the Cherokee Nation on file in the office of 
said Commission as set aside under said section 23; that upon further examination 
said Commission discovered numerous errors in said schedule or list and called the 
attention of said Logan thereto; that on January 23, 1903, saiil Conunission received 
from Richard C. Adams, claiming to represent the Delaware Indians, an alleged cor- 
rected schedule of lands selected by them, aggregating 157,600 acres, in the Cherokee 
Nation; that thereafter the schedule so filed by Walter S. Logan was corrected to 
correspond with the schedule as filed by said Adams and said corrected schedule 
accepted by said Commission as a proper designation of the lands to be selected and seg- 
regated under the provisions of said section 23; that thereafter a number of Cherokee 
citizens, not Delawares, comi)lained to said Commission tliat saiil corrected schedule 
embraced a large quantity of lands which had theretofore been in their possession, 



86 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

and upon which they had made improvements, and which had not been occupied or 
improved l)y any Delaware; that since the filing of said corrected schedule a number 
of Delaware Indians have made complaints to said Commission that said corrected 
schedule did not include lands which had theretofore been selected and occupied by 
them, an<l have made requests to be allowed to make final selections of lands con- 
taining improvements and upon which they reside, and claiming that no portion of 
the lands so requested to be allotted to them were included within said corrected 
schedule. Further, that since the filing of said corrected schedule the Commission 
has discovered that it includes lands which were by law reserved for town-site 
purposes. 

And deponent further says that he and the other members of said Commission, 
from their investigation made since the filing of said corrected schedule, are impressed 
with the belief that the lands designated thereby were not selected with due regard 
for the interests of either the Delaware citizens generally or other citizens of the 
Cherokee Nation, and that said corrected schedule embraces lands which by law are 
reserved for town-site purj^oses. And deponent further says that on April 20, 1903, 
said Commission made a report of its actions and proceedings with respect to the 
segregation of said 157,600 acres of land to the Secretary of the Interior for his 
approval or disapproval, and in said report stated, among other things, that said cor- 
rected schedule was made without any intention of conforming to the laws relating 
to the establishment of town sites and without due regard for the interests of the 
Delaware Indians or other citizens of the Cherokee Nation. And further deponent 
said not. 

Tams Bixby. 

District of Columbia, ss: 

Sworn and subscribed before me this 13th day of June, A. D. 1903. 
[seal.] W. Bertrand Acker, 

Notari/ Public in and for the District of Columbia. 



Exhibit 51. 

Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Tahleqiiah, Ind. T., August 31, 1903. 
R. C. Adams, Fort Gibson, Ind. T. 

Dear Sir: On July 10, 1903, James S. Fuller, of Fort Gibson, Ind. T., appeared 
before the Cherokee land office at Tahlequah, Ind. T., and selected in allotment for 
his wife, Rosa L. Fuller, the S. h_ of the SW. i of the NE i of sec. 1, T. 15 N., R. 19 
JL. of the Indian meridian, containing 20 acres. 

It appears that you also claim the above-described tract of land, or a part thereof. 

Section 69 of the act of Congress approved July 1, 1902 (Public — No. 241), pro- 
vides as follows: 

"Sec. 69. After the expiration of nine months after the date of the original selec- 
tion of an allotment by or for any citizen of the Cherokee tribe as provided in this 
act, no contest shall be instituted against such selection, and as early thereafter as 
practicable patent shall issue therefor." 

You are therefore hereby notified that you may appear at the Cherokee land 
office at any time within nine months after the date of said selection and make appli- 
cation for the above-described tract of laud, or any part thereof claimed by you, and 
file contest therefor if you so desire. 

Respectfully, Tams Bixby, 

Cunimissiimer in Charge Cherokee Land Office. 



Exhibit 52. 

In the supreme court of the District of Columbia, George Bullette et al. v. Ethan 
Allen Hitchcock, Secretary of the Interior, et al.. No. 23991. 

Opinion of Mr. Justice Anderson on motion for temporary injunction. 

STATEMENT OF THE CASE. 

On the 2d <lay of June, 1903, the complainants, George Bullette and others, on 
their own behalf and on behalf of the Delaware Indians residing in the Indian Ter- 
ritory, filed their bill of complaint against the defendants, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 87 

Secretary of the Interior, and Tarns Bixby, Thomas B. Xeedles, Clifton R. Brecken- 
ridge, and William K. Stanley, member.-i of and constituting tlie Commission to the 
Five Civilized Tribes of Indians, generally known and called the " Dawes Commis- 
sion," praying among other things for an injunction to restrain the defendants from 
receiving or entertaining applications for allotment of any portion of the 157,600 
acres of laud purchased l)y the Delawares from the Cherokee Nati<m under a certain 
agreement or treaty made between them on or about April 8, 1807, and which lands 
the bill alleges were thereafter, to wit, in January, 1903, duly segregated and set 
apart for them by said Connnission. pursuant to an act of Congress a'pproved Julyl, 

1902, and also from entertaining or considering any contests based upon such appli- 
cations, aftd that a mandatory writ of injunction issue out of this court, conunanding 
the defendants to strike from the files of their ottice all such applications which have 
been or which may be tiled touching said aggregated lands, until the rights of said 
Delaware Indians in and to the lands and funds of said Cherokee Nation qnder said 
agreement of April cS, 1867, have been finally i)assed upon and determined by the 
Supreme Court of the United States in a suit brought in the Court of Claims of the 
United States by the Delaware Indians against the Cherokee Nation under the 
authority of section 25 of an act of Congress approved June 28, 1898, and now pend- 
ing in the Supreme Court of the United States on appeal from a decree rendered by 
the Court of Claims February 2, 1903, dismissing said suit. 

It is alleged in the bill of complaint that under said agreement of April 8, 1867, the 
Clierokee Nation sold to the Delawares (tlien residing in the State of Kansas) an 
amount of land east of the ninety-sixth degree, in the aggregate equal to 160 acres 
for each individual Delaware who had been enrolled on a certain register made Feb- 
ruary 18, 1867, and sucii as might l)e added thereto within a specified time, and for 
Mhich lands the Delawares agreed to pay the Cherokees $1 per acre; that pursuant 
to that agreement it was ascertained that tlie number of Indians so enrolled and 
entitled to be enrolled was 985, and the numl^er of acres to which tliey were thus 
entitled was 157,600; that thereafter and during tlie year 1867 the Delawares, in pur- 
suance of the terms of said agreement, paid into tiie treasury of the Cherokee Nation 
the sum of §157,600, the agreed purchase price for said land; that although the 
157,600 acres were not then segregated or set apart, yet the individual Delaware 
Indians enumerated in the said enrollment at once, after the payment of the $157,600, 
removed to and occupied and improved about 157,600 acres of land in the Ciierokee 
Nation pursuant to the terms of said agreement, and also certain other lands under 
claim of right. 

Touching the segregation of tlie 157,600 acres from the other lands of the Cherokee 
Nation, the complainants further allege that by section 25 of an act of Congress 
approved June 28, 1898, entitled "An act for tlie protection of the people of the 
Indian Territory, and for other ])urposes" (30 Stat. L., 495) it is provided: 

"That before any allotment shall be made of lands in the Cherokee Nation there 
shall l)e segregated therefrom by the Commission heretofore mentionetl, in separate 
allotments or otherwise, the one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred acres 
purchased by the Delaware tril)e of Indians from the Cherokee Nation under agree- 
ment of April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, subject to the judicial deter- 
mination of the rights of said descendants and the Cherokee Nation under said 
agreement. That the Delaware Indians residing in the Cherokee Nation are hereby 
authorized and empowered to bring suit in the Court of Claims of the United States, 
Avithin sixty days after the passage of this act, against the Cherokee Nation for the 
purpose of determining the rights of said Delaware Indians in and to the lands and 
funds of said nation under their contrai-t and agreement w itli the Cherokee Nation, 
dated April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven; or the Cherokee Nation may 
bring a like suit against said Delaware Indians; and jurisdiction is conferred on said 
court to adjudicate and fully determine the same, with right of appeal to either party 
to the Supreme Court of the United States." 

The complainants further allege that pursuant to the authority contained in this 
section (25), the Delaware Indians residing in the Cherokee Nation within the time 
limited in this section (viz, within sixty days from its passage), brought suit in the 
Court of Claims of the United States against the Cherokee Nation for the purpose 
therein provided, and such proceedings were therein had that on about February 2, 

1903, a decree was rendered by said court dismissing said suit, and thereupon, on or 
about ^larch 19, 1903, the Delawares by their counsel duly appealed from said decree 
to the Supreme Court of the United States, and which aj)i)eal is now on the calendar 
of that I'ourt, l)ut has not yet been argued or determined. 

It is further alleged that thereafter, to wit, July 1, 1902, Congress passed an act 
entitled "An act to provide for the allotment of the lands of the Cherokee Nation for 
the dispo.sition of town sites therein, and for other purposes," ajiproved July 1, 1902 
(public, No. 241), which was duly ratified by the Cherokee Nation (as provided in 
said section 75) at a general election held on or about August 7, 1902, and that by 



88 MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

reason of such ratification the Cherokee Nation and the individual members thereof 
thereby ratified and consented to the provisions of said section 23 of said act, which 
provides for the segregation and withdrawal from allotment of the 157,600 acres 
claimed by the Delawares. Said section 23 reads as follows: 

"All Delaware Indians who are members of the Cherokee Nation shall take lands 
and share in the funds of the tribe, as their rights may be determined by the judg- 
ment of the Court of Claims or by the Supreme Court, if appealed, in the suit insti- 
tuted therein by the Delawares against the Cherokee Nation, and now pending; but 
if said suit be not determined before said Commission is ready to begin the allotment 
of lands of the tribe, as herein provided, the Commission shall cause to be segregated 
one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred acres of land, including lands 
which have been selected and occupied by Delawares, in conformity to the provisions 
of their agreement with the Cherokees, dated April eighth, eighteen hundred and 
sixty-seven, such lands so to remain, subject to disposition according to such judg- 
ment as may be rendered in said cause; and said Commission shall, when final judg- 
ment is ren(iered, allot lands to such Delawares in conformity to the terms of the 
judgment and their individual rights thereunder. Nothing in this act shall in any 
manner impair the rights of either party to said contract, as the same may be finally 
determined by the court, or shall interfere with the holdings of the Delawares under 
their contract with the Cherokees of April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, 
until their rights under said contract are determined by the courts in their suit now 
pending against the Cherokees, and said suit shall be advanced on the docket of said 
courts and determined at the earliest time practicable." 

It is then alleged in the bill that by said act of Congress last mentioned (viz, act 
of July 1, 1902), it was provided with respect to the lands of the Cherokee Nation — 
excluding said 157,600 acres of land— that Cherokee citizens might file with the 
defendants applications for allotment tliereof, and that the Dawes Commission should 
have exclusive jurisdiction to determine all matters relative to such allotments and 
of any contest in relation thereto, and that after the expiration of nine months from 
the date of original allotment by or for any Cherokee citizen, no contest should be 
instituted against such selection, and that as early thereafter as practicable a patent 
should issue therefor. 

The complainants therefore allege and so contend that according to the provisions 
of section 23 of said act of Congress of July 1, 1902, and according to the true intent 
and meaning thereof, said Commission was required, until the final determination of 
said suit by the Supreme Court of the United States, to cause said 157,600 acres of land 
to be segregated and to be kept segregated and apart from all other lands of the Chero- 
kee Nation, and to remain so segregated until final judgment shall be rendered by 
the Supreme Court; and that if any allotment of land of the Cherokee Nation should 
be made to such Cherokee citizens prior to said determination of the Supreme Court, 
it should be made from lands other than those to be so segregated, and that the 
Commission was thereby ordered and directed not to allow any applications for allot- 
ment for such segregated lands to be filed, and not to allow any contests to be insti- 
tuted with respect to any such lands until at least after such final determination of 
said suit should be made; and that only upon the rendering of such final judgment 
should such segregated lands be allowed in severalty, either to said Delawares, in 
case of their success in said suit, or to them or other members of the said Cherokee 
Nation in case said suit should be unsuccessful. 

The complainants further allege that in December, 1902, the Delaware tribe, pur- 
suant to said section 23, filed with the Commission a list of selections of land made 
by them, respectively, aggregating 157,600 acres, and in January, 1903, an amended 
and corrected list, which was then received, accepted, and placed on file by said 
Commission as and for a designation and description of the Delaware lands segre- 
gated under the authority of said acts of 189S and 1902; and that in January, 1903, 
the Commission caused said 157,600 acres of land to be segregated and set apart in 
obe<lience to the mandates contained in said acts of Congress. 

It is also alleged that after the segregation of these lands the Dawes Commission 
opened a land office at Vinita, Ind. T., and since January 1, 1903, have allowed 
numerous persons who are, or who claim to be, citizens of the Cherokee Nation, to 
file with said Connnission applications for various of the lands so segregated, and 
have notified numerous Delawares who have imjiroved and are occupying said segre- 
gated lands that such applications have been filed, and that unless they appear liefore 
the Comnussion and contest the same within nine months from the date of the filing 
of such a]){)licati<)nstiH'y will be forever barred from any interest therein, as provided 
in section (59 of theactof July 1, 1902, notwithstanding said ai>plications for allot- 
ment have reference to and cover lands within a part of said 157,600 acres segregated 
and set apart for the Delawares. 



MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 89 

And it is further alleged that said CommiHsion threatens and intends in the future 
to continue to receive and act upon such illegal applications, and claims the right so 
to do, despite the provisions of said section 28, tlie i)endency of said suit, and the 
protests of conijilainants. And, furthermore, that defendants threaten to hold and 
determine that the provisions of said act of Congress ai)proved July 1, 1902, touching 
applications for and contests over the allotment of lands in the Cherokee Nation 
generally, and the statute of limitations set forth in section 69 of said act, apply to 
all lands, in the Cherokee Nation, including said segregated lands, notwitlistanding 
the provisions of section 23 of said act and notwithstanding the j)endency of said 
suit in the iSupreme Court of the I'nited States, and that unless the defendants be 
enjoined from receiving such applications and from holding that the limitation of 
nine months applies thereto, irreparable injury will be done the complainants and 
their associates and that a multiplicity of suits will be inevitable. 

A mandatory injunction is therefore asked to direct the defendants to strike from 
the files all apjilicaticms for lands within the segregation and to eject therefrom all 
persons who have gone upon said lands in pursuance of such apjjlications. 

An injunction is also asked to prevent defendants from receiving further similar 
applications and from holding the nine months' limitation (named in section 69) 
applical)le thereto. Process was issued upon this bill of complaint and service 
thereof was had upon the Secretary of the Interior and upon Tams Bixby, chairman 
of the Dawes Commission, who at the time of tiling the bill chanced to be in the 
District of Columbia. The other defendants, members of the Dawes Connnission, 
have not been served. 



To this bill of complaint the Secretary of the Interior filed his answer under oath, 
in which he denies that the segregation of said 157,600 acres of land, provided for by 
section 2o of the act of 1898 and section 2?> of the act of 1902, has been made. 

Answering the thirteenth paragraph of the bill, he alleges that on December 16, 
1902, there was tiled with said Commission a schedule of lands aggregating 157,600 
acres, alleged to have been theretofore selected by the Delawares, and claimed by them 
under their agreement with the Cherokee Nation of April 8, 1867 ; that on the next day, 
Decemljer 17, 1902, said Commission, by resolution, instructed Tams Bixby, its acting 
chairman, to cause to be set aside and segregated the lands designated and described 
in said schedule. That thereafter, and in compliance with that resolution, Bixby, 
as such chairman, caused the tracts described in this schedule to be marked on maps 
in the office of the Commission as segregated under said acts; that thereafter, and 
upon further examination, the Commission discovered numerous errors in said 
schedule and called the attention thereto of the person who had filed it; that, on 
January 23, 1903, the Commission received a corrected list and thereupon the sched- 
ule filed December 16, 1902, was corrected to correspond with the schedule filed 
January 23, 1903, and that this corrected schedule was received and accej)ted by the 
Commission as a proper designation of the lands to be selected and segregated under 
said section 23; that thereafter a number of Cherokee citizens, not Delawares, 
comi)lained to the Commission that this schedule, as amended, embraced lands 
belonging to them and then in their possession and upon which they had made 
improvements; that complaint was also made by certain Delawares that their lands 
theretofore selected and occu])ied by them had been (emitted from this schedule and 
requesting the Commission to be allowed to make final selections of lands containing 
improvements and upon which they resided and which were not included in said 
corrected schedule; that it was also discovered by the Commission that said corrected 
schedule embraced lands which were by law reserved for town sites, under section 24 
of said act of 1902, and therefore npt subject to segregation under the provisions of 
said section 23; and further, that the lands designated and descril)ed in said corrected 
lists were not selected with due regard either for the l)enefit of tlie Delaware citizens 
generally or other citizens. of the Cherokee Nation. That (m Ai)ril 20, 1903, the 
Commission made a report of its acts and proceedings, with respect to tlie filing and 
acceptance of said schedule, to the Secretary of the Interior for his approval, which 
report was received by the Secretary of the Interior April 30, 1903, and has not been 
fully considered by him; and that such acts and proceedings of the Commission, as 
set forth, have not received his approval, and that he has not accepted or ai)proved 
said corrected schedule as a proper designation and description of the land to be seg- 
regated under section 23. 

He also denies that said Cf)nHnission now claims to have the right to receive appli- 
cations for the allotment of lands designated and described in said schedule, or now 
claims to have the right, ujion the tiling of any sui'h ajiplications, to consider that 
the individual Delawares are barred or foreclosed of any interest in the 157,600 acres 
of land to be segregated under said section 23 of the act of July 1, 1902. 



90 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

He also denies that said Commisfjion threatens and intends in the future to con- 
tinue to receive, accept, and tile further applications and to call upon individual 
Delawares to defend against the same, or threatens and intends to hold and deter- 
mine that unless said Delawares institute a contest within said nine months their 
rights to said segregated lands shall lapse, or that the Commission threatens and 
intends to hold and determine that the provisions of the act of Congress approved 
July 1, 1902, touching applications for and contests over the allotment of lands in the 
Cherokee Nation generallj^ or that the statute of liminations set forth in section 69 
of said act apply to all lands of the Cherokee Nation, including said segregated lands, 
notwithstanding the provisions of section 23 of said act, and notwithstanding the 
pendency of said suit in the Supreme Court of the United States. 

He also denies that either he or said Commission have disregarded any protests by 
said Delawares, but alleges that all such protests were being considered by him, as 
such Secretary, in connection with the acts and proceedings of said Commission 
under said section 23 of the act of July 1, 1902, at the time of the filing of the bill of 
complaint herein, and that proper action thereon and on such acts and proceedings 
of said Commission has not yet been taken becrause of the issuance of the temporary 
restraining order herein. And he denies that either he or said Commission has done 
any acts or threatened or intend to do any acts to the prejudice of the rights of the 
complainants or their associates to said segregated lands, but, on the contrary, that 
when said segregation is finally made and approved no allotments will l)e made of 
any lands included therein until the suit between the Delawares and Cherokees is 
finally determined by the Supreme Court. 

He not only admits but specifically affirms the allegations of the bill of complaint 
that, by the several acts of Congress creating and defining the powers of said Com- 
mission and all the acts and proceedings of such Counnission under said laws, are 
subject to the directions of the Secretary of the Interior. But he denies that the acts 
and proceedings of said Commission, with respect to said schedules of land received 
and filed by said Commission, were done by and with his direction and approval, as 
Secretary of the Interior or otherwise. 

And finally he alleges that he, as such Secretary of the Interior, and said Commis- 
sion to the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians, constitute a special tribunal charged 
with the duty of segregating and alloting the lands in the Cherokee Nation; that said 
duty requires upon the part of said tribunal the exercise of judgment and discretion; 
that before the segregation of said 157,600 acres provided for in section 23 of the act 
of 1898 is complete or effective, it must be approved by him as such Secretary of the 
Interior; that this duty involves on his part, as such Secretary, the exercise of judg- 
ment and discretion and is not, therefore, as he is advised, subject to review, control 
of interference by the judicial branch of the (Tovernraent in injunction proceedings, 
and he prays the same benefit as if he had demurred on that ground. 

The affidavits of the defendants, the Secretary of the Interior and Tams Bixby, are 
filed with the answer and are substantially to the same effect. 

AMENDMENT TO BILL. 

Thereupon the complainants amended the thirteenth paragraph of their bill and 
alleged that the acts and proceedings of the Dawes Commission, the Commissioner of 
Indian Affairs, and the Secretary of the Interior, in the adnunistration and execution 
of the provisions of said section 23, are fully set forth in certain of their reports and 
letters, copies of which are filed with said bill and made part thereof; and that it 
appears from said reports and letters, and that the fact is, that the segregation of the 
157,600 acres, as required by said section 23, was completed by said Commission in 
December, 1902, and was held and considered by the Commission and b.v the Secretary 
of the Interior, as having been made and (•oni})leted l)y said Commission and by the 
Secretary of the Interior, and was, in fact, then approved and considered to have been 
api)r()ved by said Secretary. That thereupon, and because it was held by the Secre- 
tary of the Interior to have been made in compliance with the law, the Commission 
thereupon proceeded, under the direction and with the approval of the Secretary of 
the Interior, to the allotment of the remaining lands in the Cherokee Nation under 
the authority of said section 23 of the act of July 1, 1VH)2; that on January 1, 1903, 
the Commission opened a land oliice at Vinita, Ind. T., for the purpose of receiving 
applications from (Cherokees for lands, other than those so segregated, an<l making 
allotments thereof; tiiat thereupon and during tlie months of January and February, 
1903, more than 1,()00 ai)plications were filed, and more than 1,300 allotments were 
made and reported by said Counnission an<l the report tliereof approved by the Sec- 
retary of the Interior; that said land office continued open until the filing of this 
suit in June, 1903, during which time it is alleged that more than 8,000 applications, 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 91 

covering more than 800,000 acres of land, were made, and more than 5,000 allotments, 
covering 500,000 acres of land, were reported to and approved by the Secretary of the 
Interior, and that said allotments conld not have been legally made and approved if 
the segregation of the 157, (iOO acres had not already been made under said section 23 
as preliminary and as a prerequisite to the making of said allotments. 

ANSWER TO AMENDMENT OP PARAGRAPH 13 OP BILL. 

The Secretary of the Interior tiled a sworn answer to this amendment and denied 
that the acts and proceedings of the Secretary and of the Dawes Conunission, or of 
either of them, in the administration and execution of the provisions of section 23, 
are fully set forth in said reports and letters tiled with saiil amendment, and also 
denies that it appears from said reports and letters that there has I)een any segrega- 
tion of the 157,600 acres of land, as reiiuired by said section 23 of the act of July 1, 
1902; or that it was held and considered by the Commission or the Secretary, or either 
of them, as having been so made or completed, or that it was in fact approved by 
him as therein alleged. 

He also denies that the Dawes Commission proceeded to the allotment of any lands 
in the Cherokee Nation under his direction and ajjproval, as set forth in the amend- 
ment to said bill. He further alleges that about January 1, 1903, the Dawes 
Commission opened a land office at Vinita, Ind. T., for the purpose of receiving 
and passing upon applications from Cherokee citizens, not Delawares for lands in 
the Cherokee Nation, and that until the filing of the bill of complaint, said Commis- 
sion received and passed upon ^uch ajaplications for allotments. But no such appli- 
cations for allotments have been approved by the defen<lant as Secretarj' of the 
Interior; and that the time of the filing of the bill of complaint herein the defend- 
ant, as such Secretary, was considering the acts and proceedings of said Commission 
in so receiving and passing upon allotments, in order to determine whether they 
were in conformit}' with the requirements of said act of July 1, 1902. 

And finally the Secretary alleges that the title to all lands in the Cherokee Nation 
is still held by said nation; and that until the title to lands embraced in any segre- 
gation provided for in section 23 of the act of 1902 has passed from said nation, he, 
as Secretary of the Interior, has the power and authority, under the law, to correct, 
modify, amend, vacate, or set aside any segregation of lands in the Cherokee Nation, 
if any has been made, even though the same may have received his approval. 



It will be observed that this bill of complaint and the relief prayed for is founded 
upon the theory: 

1. That, as a question of fact, the 157,600 acres of land to which the Delaware 
Indians are entitled under their contract of purchase made with the Cherokees 
April 8, 1867, have been finally segregated and set apart for their use and for final 
allotment, at the appropriate time, as provided for in the acts of 1898 and 1902. 

2. That, as a question of law, said lands having been so segregated, neither said 
Commission nor the Secretary of the Interior has or can exercise any further juris- 
diction over the same other than to keep them free from incumbrances, or other 
charges, and prevent the impaii-ment of the rights of the Delawares therein and 
thereto until the Supreme Court of the United States has rendered its final judgment 
in the suit of the Delawares against the Cherokee Nation now pending in that court. 

The right determination of these questions involves the interi)retation of the acts 
of Congress mentioned, and an examination of the state of the case as to what has 
actually been done thereunder. 

Section 25 of the act of Congress approved June 28, 1898 (30 Stat. L., 495), known 
as the Curtis Act, imposed upon the Conunission to the Five Civilized Tribes, or on 
what is generally known as the "Dawes Commission" (which was created by the 
act of March 1, 1893), (27 Stat. L., 612,645) the duty of segregating from the other 
lands of the Cherokee Nation the 157,600 acres purchased by tiu^ Delaware tribe of 
Indians from the Cherokee Nation imder their agreement of April 8, 1867. Silch 
segregaticHi, as provided by said section, was to be made by the Commission "sub- 
ject to the judicial determination of the rights of said descendants and the Cherokee 
Nation under said agreement." 

By the same section jurisdiction is conferred upon the Court of Claims of the 
United States, with the right of api)eal to the Supreme Court of the United States, to 
adjudicate and finally determine the rights of the Delaware Indians in and to the 
lands and funds of the Cherokee Nation under their contra(;t of A])ril 8, 1867. There- 
upon, and pursuant to that section, the Delawares, in August, 1898, instituted such 



92 MEMOKIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

suit against the Cherokee Nation in the Court of Claims, which was thereafter, on or 
about February 2, 1903, dismissed by a decree of that court. On or about March 
19, 1903, the Delawares appealed from said decree to the Supreme Court of the 
United States, where said appeal is now pending. During the pendency of said suit 
in the Court of Claims, viz, July 1, 1902, Congress passed another act entitled " An 
act to provide for the allotment of the lands of the Cherokee Nation, for the dispo- 
sition of town sites therein, and for other purposes." (32 Stat. L., 716.) 

This act was duly ratified by the Cherokee Nation at a general election held on or 
about August 7, 1902, as provided in section 75 thereof. 

Section 23 of that act makes further provision for said segregation as follows: 

1. "All Delaware Indians who are members of the Cherokee Nation shall take 
lands and share in the funds of the tribe as their rights may be determined by the 
judgment of the Court of Claims, or by the Supreme Court, if appealed, in the suit 
instituted therein by the Delawares against the Cherokee Nation and now pending. 

2. "But if said suit be not determined before said Commission is ready to begin 
the allotment of lands of the tribe as herein provided, the Commission shall — 

(a) "Cause to be segregated 157,600 acres of land, including lands which have 
been selected and occupied by Delawares, in conformity to the provisions of their 
agreement with the Cherokees dated April 8, 1867, such lands (the 157,600 acres) so to 
remain subject to disposition according to such judgment as may be rendered in said 
cause. 

(b) " And said Commission shall thereupon (after segregating said 157,600 acres) 
proceed to the allotment of the remaining lands of the tribe aforesaid, and lastly 

(c) " Said Commission shall, when final judgment is rendered, allot lands to such 
Delawares in conformity to the terms of the judgment and their individual rights 
thereunder." 

And then in order to safeguard the rights of both parties pending said suit the 
same section provides that — 

(d) " Nothing in this act shall in any manner impair the rights of either party to 
said contract as the same may be finally determined by the court, or shall interfere 
with the lioldings of the Delawares under their contract with the Cherokees of April 
8, 1867, until their rights under said contract are determined by the courts in their 
suit now ])ending against the Cherokees." 

It is apparent from the plain reading of these two sections (viz, section 25 of the 
act of June 28, 1898, and section 23 of the act of July 1, 1902) that Congress intended 
to and did confer on the Delaware Indians the right to have the 157,600 acres of land 
purchased by them from the Cherokees duly segregated and set apart from the other 
lands of the Cherokees as soon as the same has been duly selected and designated, 
and when so selected and segregated to have the same so kept and maintained until 
final judgment is rendered in the suit now pending in the Supreme Court of the 
United States, and that "when (such) final judgment is rendered, said Commission 
shall thereujjon allot lands to the Delawares in conformity to the terms of the judg- 
ment and their individual rights thereunder" (section 23) . 

By section 22 of said act Congress also conferred upon said Commission, under the 
direction of the Secretary of the Interior, exclusive jurisdiction to determine all 
matters relative to the allotment of lands in the Cherokee Nation. 

Section 24 provides that certain lands, including town lots, shall be reserved from 
allotment. 

It seems clear, in the light of these statutes, that the segregation of the 157,600 
acres is to be made not by the Commission alone, but l)y the Commission, subject to 
the direction of the Secretary of the Interior. Indeed, this is expressly admitted in 
paragraph 26^ of the bill, which alleges, and which is admitted by the answer, 
"* * * that by the several acts of Congress creating and defining the powers of 
said Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes all the acts and proceedings of said 
Commission are subject to the direction of the Secretary of the Interior." 

It would seem to follow, therefore, that while the segregation must be made by 
the Dawes Commission, it must be made under the direction of the Secretary of the 
Interior and have his official approval before it is complete and effective. 

The first question, then, as already suggested, is whether the segregation of the 
157,()00 acres has been made and is now final and effective. 

The Secretary of the Interior, in his sworn answer and in his affidavit as well, 
denies in tl)e most direct and positive terms that this segregation has been made or 
that he has ajiproved it. The answer of the Secretary might well be accepted as 
conclusive on tliis point were it not for the amendment to paragraph 13 of the bill 
of comj)laint, which sets up certain reports of the Commission and of the Commis- 
sioner of Indian Affairs and certain correspondence of the defendants, which the 
complainants claim shows such ])roceedings had and sucii acts done by the Dawes 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 93 

Commission and the Secretary of the Interior as to leave no question that, as a mat- 
ter of fact as well as matter of law, such segregation has been made by the Commis- 
sion and duly apj^roved by the Secretary, and is therefore complete and linal. 

Two theories are presented as to the segregation of these lands. The contention 
of the complainants is that when the Delawares filed with the Commission in Decem- 
ber, 1902, the schedule of lands selected by them, and the same was thereafter 
revised and corrected Jamiary 28, 190:^, and so received and tiled by said Commis- 
sion, that such corrected schedule was thereby finally accepted by the Conmiission 
as a proper designation of the lands actually selected and segregated under said act 
of Congress, and that in the light of the reports and correspondence heretofore men- 
tioned such acts and procedure constitute in fact and in law a full, complete, and 
final segregation of the 157,600 acres as provided in the acts of 1898 and 1902. On 
the other hand, the contention of the Secretary of the Interior is that "said corrected 
schedule was received and ac-c-epted by said Commission not as a proper designation 
of the lands actually selected and segregated, but of the lands to be selected and 
segregated under his direction and approval, and therefore no actual segregation has 
been made by said Commission or approved by the Secretary." If the latter view 
is correct, that would seem to end the controversy, and the consequent denial of the 
writ of injunction and the discharge of the temporary restraining order would nec- 
essarily follow; otherwise the complainants are entitle<l to the relief prayed for, 
because, if the segregation has been finally made and completed, neither the Com- 
mission nor the Secretary has any further jurisdiction in the matter, other than ta 
maintain the status quo,- until the Supreme Court of the United States has decided 
the case now before it. 

In support of the contention of the complainants that the 157,600 acres were segre- 
gated in January, 1903, and the jurisdiction of the Commission and of the Secretary 
in that behalf, thereby ousted, they argue that inasmuch as section 23 (act of July 1, 
1902) plainly requires that before the Commission shall proceed to the allotment of 
the Cherokee lands (that is, lands other than the 157,600 acres to be set apart to the 
Delawares), the Commission shall first segregate and set apart the lands selected and 
occupied by the Delawares, and inasmuch as the Commission, after the filing of said 
corrected schedule in January, 1903, did proceed to the allotment of the other lands 
of the Cherokees, they could" only have done so on the supposition and belief on the 
part of the Commission and the Secretary (who they allege had knowledge of the 
same) that the segregation had before that time been made and completed; other- 
wise, they insist, their acts would have been in flagrant disobedience of the law. That 
the Dawes Commission did so believe and did proceed in the matter of the allotment 
of the Cherokee lands, other than the 157,600 acres, in the manner pointed out, admits 
of no serious question. Indeed the reports and correspondence filed with the amend- 
ment to the bill leaves room for no other interpretation, besides the answer of the 
Secretary, in effect, admits it, although he expressly denies that "said ("onnnission 
proceeded to the allotment of said lands under his direction and approval." 

It is equally clear, however, that no matter what view the members of the Dawes 
Commission may have entertained as to their jurisdiction touching the segregation of 
the 157,600 acres and the subsequent allotment of Cherokee lands, they could neither 
enlarge their own, nor limit the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior in rela- 
tion thereto, through any mistaken interpretation of the law or assumption of authority 
on their part; so that, if they assumed that under the law they had the power to 
make and conclude the segregation of these lands independent of the Secretary of the 
Interior, and that in accepting and filing said schedule of selectt'd lands in December, 
1902, and in the revision and correction of same in January, 1903, they thereby made 
and completed said segregation and the same thereby became innnediately effective, 
and in that belief they then proceeded to the allotment of the other lands of the 
Cherokees, such belief and course of procedure on their part would not constitute a 
segregation within the meaning of the law, unless they either have exclusive jurisdic- 
tion in the matter, or their acts in that behalf have had the sanction and approval of 
the Secretary of the Interior. 

As already pointed out, in my view of these statutes, and as adu fitted by para- 
graph 26h of the l)ill of complaint, this segregation must be made by the Conmiission 
subject to the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and hence the Commission 
does not have and can not exercise exclusive jurisdiction in the matter. Moreover, 
section 23 of the act of 1902 provides that such segregation must be first so made before 
the Commission can properly proceed to the allotment of the remaining Cherokee 
lands, i. e., lands other than the segregated lands, and therefore, unless such alleged 
segregation was in fact maile, subject to the direction of the Secn'tary, it necessarily 
follows that it did not become complete and effective upon the mere receipt and filing 
of said schedule of selected lands in December, 1902, or of the amended and corrected 



94 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

schedule in January, 1903, or at any other time; and that all subsequent steps on the 
part of the Commission looking to the allotment of the other Cherokee lands referred 
to were untimely and irregular, and can in no wise affect the rights of the Delawares 
in the final segregation and allotment, unless, as stated, the same was in fact done 
under the direction and with the approval of the Secretary and is now beyond his 
recall. 

The Secretary, both in his answer and in his affidavit, as already pointed out, 
alleges directly and emphatically that this segregation has not been so made and 
approved by him. 

While it is true that it appears from the Secretar\''s answer that the Dawes Com- 
mission opened a land office and received applications for allotments of land outside 
of the land described in the schedule filed with the Dawes Commission, he alleges 
that none of these acts were done under his direction nor have they received his 
approval, but that at the very time of the filing of this bill he was considering the 
question of their legality. As to whether the attempted segregation has been approved 
by the Secretary depends, therefore, upon the effect to be given the reports and doc- 
uments referred to in the amendment to the bill, and upon which counsel for com- 
plainants predicated their argument that, as a matter of law, the Secretary has 
approved such segregation. 

After a careful reading and rereading of these reports and documents, I am clearly 
of oj)inion that they do not support this contention. If it has been so approved, 
and the Commission, under the direction and with the approval of the Secretary of 
the Interior, had proceeded to make, or was about to make, allotments that affected 
any of the lands so segregated, as charged in the bill, then it would clearly ))e the 
duty of the court, under the circumstances of this case, to restrain such action by 
injunction; because, under section 23 of the act or July 1, 1902, it is made the plain 
duty of the Commission, in the event that the suit now pending in the Supreme Court 
be not determined before the Commission is ready to begin the allotment of lands of 
the tribe, to cause said 157,600 acres to be segregated, and to be kept segregated and 
apart from all other lands of the Cherokee Nation, and there stop — so far as said seg- 
regation is concerned — until final judgment has been rendered t)y the Supreme Court 
of the United States. 

The language of said section being: 

"If said suit be not determined before said Commission is ready to begin the allot- 
ment of lands of the tribe as herein provided, the Commission shall cause to be segre- 
gated 157,600 acres of land, including lands which have been segregated and occupied 
by Delawares in conformity with their agreement with the Cherokees dated April, 
1867, such lands so to remain subject to disposition according to such judgment as 
may be rendered in said cause; and said Commission shall thereupon (l)ut not before) 
proceed to the allotment of the remaining lands of the tribe as aforesaid." 

It is likewise the plain duty of the Commission, in proceeding to "allot the remain- 
ing lands of the tribe," to make the same from lands other than the 157,600 acres 
segregated (or to l)e segregated) for the use of the Delawares. And yet, despite these 
plain provisions of the law and the apparent assumption on the part of the members 
of the Commission that they have the exclusive right to make this segregation, and 
had so made it, they unwittingly, or at least erroneously, proceeded to destroy their 
own handiwork by including in "the allotment of the remaining lands of the tribe" 
certain of the lands included in their so-called segregation, and at the same time 
omitted from the segregation itself certain other lands which had been selected and 
occupied by the Delawares in conformity v.ith their agreement of April, 1867, with 
the Cherokees, which other lands section 23 expressly provides shall be included in 
the segregation of the 157,600 acres. 

As the hands of the Delawares are tied, so far as the allotment or disposition of 
the 157,600 acres are concerned, the moment said segregation is once completed it 
would be a grievous wrong to thus professedly set apart for them all they are entitled to 
under their contract of 1867 and then proceed to take from them a portion of the very 
lands thus segregated, in making allotments to the Cherokees out of what is treated 
as "the remaining lands of the tribe." While it was evidently not the intention of 
Cimgrc'ss to delay the allotment work in the Cherokee Nation until the suit between 
the Delawares and Cherokees shall have been finally determined, it was never the 
intention that, in making such allotment, the rights of the Delawares should be 
thereby defeated or in anywise j^rejudiced. This is made clear by section 23 of the 
act of 1902, which declares that "Nothing in this act shall in any manner impair the 
rights of either party to said contract as the same may be finally determined by the 
court, or shall interfere with the holdings of the Delawares under their contract with 
the Cherokees of April 8, 1867, until their rights under said contract are determined 
by the courts in their suit now pending against the Clierokees." 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 95 

It follows, therefore, that any attempted allotment of laudf in violation of this 
section that might be effective and therein- defeat or prejndice the lights of the 
Delawares thereunder should be promptly restrained. 

In his answer the Secretary of the Interior, however, denies, under oath, that 
either the attempted segregatiltn of said lands or the receiving of said applications 
for allotments in the' Cherokee Nation, was under his direction or has ever received 
his approval. He also denies that said Commission now claims to have the right to 
receive applications for the allotment of lands designated and described in said 
schedule, or the right, upon the tiling of any such api)lications, to consider that the 
individual Delawares are barred or forec-losed of any interest in the b57,600 acres of 
land to ])e segregated under section 2o of the act of i902; and he further denies that 
the Commission threatens and intends in the future to continue to receive, accept, 
and tile further ai)plicati()ns and to call upon individual Delawares to defend against 
the same, or to do any of the many things with which they are charged in the bill 
as intending to do. In view of this'broad and emphatic disclaimer of either authority 
under the law or of any purpose or intention on the part of the defendants to do 
the acts or to exercise t"iie authority complained of in the l)ill, it would seeni to be 
clear, under the plain provisions of these statutes, that no matter what view the 
Commission originally entertained as to their authority in the {)remises that their 
acts and proceedings touching said segregation and allotment have not become 
effective, and can not l>ec(ime so until they have the llnal sanction and approval of 
the Secretary of the Interior, and, therefore, in this view of the case, which to my 
mind is the real and logical situation, no real injury to the rights of the Delawares 
has been done or is threatened by the defendants, and no substantial ground exists 
for the interposition of a court of equity. It is perhaps due the members of the 
Dawes Commission to say, in passing, that while they seem to have proceeded upon 
the theory that they have exclusive jurisdiction in* this matter, they later on dis- 
covered and recognized that they and the Secretary of the Interior constitute a 
special tril>unal charged with the"<luty of segregating and alloting these lands, and 
that all their acts and proceedings were subject to his direction and approval. 
Therefore it was, that on April 20, 1903, after objection to said segregation by certain 
Delawares, and by certain Cherokee citizens not Delawares, and after the Commis- 
sion discovered that said corrected schedule embraced lands which were by law 
reserved for town sites under section 24 of the act of 1902, and therefore not subject 
to segregation, and was otherwise objectionable, they made a rei)ort of their acts and 
proceedings in respect to the filing and acceptance of said schedules to the Secretary 
of the Interior, for his consideration and approval, which was received by him 
April 30, 1903, and, whii'h he alleges in his answer, he had under consideration at 
the time of the issuance of the temporary restraining order herein, with a view of 
determining whether said acts and proceedings were in conformity with section 23 
of the act of July 1, 1902. (32 Stat. L., 717. ) 

Admitting, however, that the Secretary of the Interior has approved this segrega- 
tion, as claimed by the complaints, his power and authority to correct, modify, or 
vacate the same in whole or in part is, in the opinion of the court, clear and undis- 
putable under the law applicable to this case. 

Section 441 of the Kevised Statutes provides that— "The Secretary of the Interior 
is charged with the supervision of public' business relating to * * * thelndians." 
Sections 22, 58, and 59 of the act of July 1, 1902, provides as follows: 
"Sec. 22. Exclusive jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon the Commission to the 
Five Civilized Tribes, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, to deter- 
mine all matters relative to the appraisement and the allotment of lands. 

"Sec. 58. The Secretary of the Interior shall furnish the principal chief with 
blank patents necessary for all conveyances herein provided for, and when any citi- 
zen receives his allotment of land, or when any allotment has been so ascerlained 
and fixed, that title should, under the provisions of this act, be conveyed, the prin- 
cipal chief shall thereupon proceed to execute and delivei- to him a patent conveying 
all the right, title, and interest of the Cherokee Nation, and of all other citizens, in 
and to the lands embraced in his allotment certificate. 

"Sec. 59. All conveyances shall be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, which 
shall serve as a relinquishment to tlie grantee of all the right, title, and interest of 
the United States in and to the lands embraced in his juitent." 

Section 441 also provides that the Secretary of the Inti'rior is charged with the 
supervision of the public business relating to "the public lands, including mines." 

The general powers and authority of the Secretary of the Interior, as exi)ressed 
in the statute (which are manifestlythe same in iirincipie with the iirovisionsof the 
statute in respect to the duty and powers of the Secretary of the Interior in the dis- 
position of the lands of the Cherokee Nation), have received a broad and compre- 
hensive interpretation by the Supreme Court of the United States. In the case of 



96 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Knight V. United States Land Association (142 U. S., 161, 178), it was held that — 
"Respecting the public domain, the Secretary of the Interior is the supervising agent 
of the Government to do justice to all claimantf and preserve the rights of the people 
of the United States. ' ' 

See also: New Orleans v. Pain (147 U. S., 261, 266-267); Williams v. United States 
(138 U. S., 514, 523-524); Hawlev f. Di Her (178 U. S., 476, 488, 490); Michigan Land 
and Lumber Co. v. Rust (168 U. S., 589, 592, 594-595); Beley v. Naphtalv (169 U. S., 
353, 364); Brown v. Hitchcock (173 U. S., 473, 476-478); United States ex rel v. 
Hitchcock (190 U. S.), decided May 18, 1903. 

In Knight against the Land Association, just cited, the Commissioner of the Gen- 
eral Land Office approved the survey of certain lands involved in that action; 
although no appeal was taken from such approval to the Secretary of the Interior, 
he subsequently set the survey aside. It was insisted that his action was illegal. In 
passing upon this question the court, speaking through Mr. Justice Lamar, said: 

"The statutes, in placing the whole business of the Dei^artment under the super- 
vision of the Secretary, invest him with authority to review, reverse, amend, annul, or 
affirm all proceedings in the Department, having for their ultimate object to secure 
the alienation of any portion of the public lands, or the adjustment of private 
claims to lands with a just regard to the rights of the pal)lic and of private parties." 

In New Orleans v. Pain (147 U. S., 261, 266-267), was involved the power of the 
Secretary of the Interior to set aside a survey of the public lands already approved, 
and to approve a subsequent survey thereof. In passing upon the question, the 
court, speaking through Mr. Justice Brown (p. 266), says: 

"If the Department was not satisfied with this (the first) survey, there was no 
rule of law standing in the way of its ordering another. Until the matter is closed 
by final action, the proceedings of an officer of a department are as much open to 
review or reversal, by himself or his successor, as are the interlocutory decrees of a 
court open to review upon the final hearing." 

In Williams r. the United States (138 U. S., 514, 52.3-524), the Government under 
the act of June 16, 1880, had certified to the State of Nevada certain lands which the 
State subsequently sold to Williams. Thereafter, it was discovered by the Land 
Department that, in procuring the State of Nevada to have the lands certified to it, 
Williams committed a fraud. Thereupon the xlttorney-General, at the request of 
the Secretary of the Interior, brought suit to set aside the certification to the State 
of Nevada. In disposing of the case, the court, speaking through Mr. Justice 
Brewer, said: 

"The certification after selection by the State is to be approved by the Secretary 
of the Interior. This is no mere formal act. It gives to him no mere arbitrary dis- 
cretion, but it does give power to prevent such a monstrous injustice as was sought 
to l)e accomplished by these proceedings. * * * It is obvious, it is common 
knowledge, that in the administration of such large and varied interests as are 
intrusted to the Land Department, matters not foreseen, equities not anticipated, 
which are therefore not provided for by express statute, may sometimes arise and, 
therefore, that the Secretary of the Interior is given such superintending and super- 
vising ]iower which will enable him in the face of these unexpected contingencies to 
do justice." 

In Brown v. Hitchcock (173 U. S., 433, 476-478), the complainant filed a bill in 
equity against the Secretary of the Interior in this court, praying that the Secretary 
be restrained from holding certain lands in the State of Oregon, subject to entry 
under the general land laws of the United States, claiming that these lands had 
become the property of the State of Oregon, under the act of September 28, 1850, 
and the amendments thereto, known as the swamp-land act, and were included in a 
certain selection list filed by the State of Oregon, which list was approved by Secre- 
tary of the Interior Teller on September 16, 1882. In 1880 the State had sold these 
lands to one Owen, and by subsequent conveyance they had been transferred to the 
complainant; therefore, in December, 1888, Secretary of the Interior Vilas made and 
entered an order canceling and revoking said selection list. The main question 
involved in the suit was the power of Sc'cretary Vilas to revoke anil annul the order 
made by Secretary Teller, approving said selection list. In disposing of this ques- 
tion, the court, among other things, said: 

"Until the legal title to public lands passes from the Government, inquiry as to 
all equitable rights comes within t!ie cognizance of the Land Department." 

In United States v. Schurz ( 102 U. S., 378, 396), which was an application for a man- 
damus to com])el the delivery of a patent, it was said: 

"Congress has also enacted a system of laws by which rights to these lands 
may be acijuired, and the title of the (xovernment conveyed to the citizen. This 
Court has, with a strong hand, upheld the doctrine that so long as the legal title to 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE [NDTANS. 97 

these lands remains in the United States, and the proceedings for acquiring it were 
as yet in fieri, tlie courts would not interfere to control the exercise of the power 
thus vested in that tribunal. To that doctrine we still adhere." 

In the case of the United States, ex rel. Riverside Oil Co., v. Hitchcock, Secretary 
of the Interior, decided May 18, U.03, the court of appeals of the District of Colum- 
bia, among other things, said: 

"Congress has constituted the Land Department, under the supervision and con- 
trol of the Secretary of the Interior, a special tribunal with judicial functions, to 
which is confided the execution of tlie laws which regulate the purchase, selling, 
care, and disposition of the public lands. The court has no general supervisory 
power over the affairs of the Land Department, by which to control their decision 
upon questions within their jurisdiction." 

It would seem from the.se cases that it is settled law that until title has passed from 
the tTOvernment, the Secretary of the Interior, under the general powers conferred 
upon him by the statutes heretofore cited, has power to review, correct, modify, 
reverse, or vacate any act or ilecision heretofore made by him or his predecessor in 
office, in respect to the disposition of public lands. The power and duty of the Sec- 
retary in respect of the administration of the act of July 1, 1902, are in all essential 
respects of similar imj)ort as those conferred upon him by the publii' land laws; and, 
therefore, upon the authority of the cases al)ove cited, it would seem to be clear 
that until the title to the lands here involved as well as the interest of the (tov- 
ernment therein — and it has an interest, although remote and i-ontingent — has been 
finally divested by the issue of patents as provided in said sections 58 and 59 of the 
act of 1902, the Secretary ''las the power to reconsider, correct, or annul his own 
decisions made in the du<;^>uriministration of said act of July 1, 1902, and hence it 
follows that in the opinion of the court the action of the Commission in segregating 
said 157,600 acres of land, even if done under the direction and with the approval of 
the Secretary of the Interio^U'does not oust the jurisdiction of the Secretary to recon- 
sider and correct the same. •' 

If, however, the right to reconsider, correct, and amend his own and the acts and 
proceedings of the Commission, as a specially constituted tribunal to carry into effect 
the acts of 1898 and 1902, does not come within the scope of the general powers 
vested in the Secretary of the Interior, such power seems to be expressly conferred 
upon him by section 22 of the latter act, viz, that of July 1, 1902, W'hich reads as 
follows: 

"Sec. 22. Exclusive jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon the Commission to the 
Five Civilized Tribes, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, to deter- 
mine all matters relative to the appraisement and the allotment of lands." 

As I read the decided cases upon this point, it seems to be settled law that when 
an act is required to be done "under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior," 
this, in effect, requires his approval before such act becomes complete and effective 
and, therefore the phrase "under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior" as 
used in the act of July 1, 1902, imposes upon the Secretary the power and duty of 
directing and supervising all acts and proceedings of the Commission under that act, 
and certainly the segregation of the 157,600 acres is not only one of the "matters 
relating to the allotment of lands" but it is a condition precedent to their allotment 
under section 23 of the act, 1902. (Bishop of Nisqually r. Gibbon, 158 U. S., 155, 
167); (Knight r. Land Association, 142 U. S., 161, 177). 

In the oral argument counsel for the comi)lainants, in opposing this view, cited the 
case of Northern Pacific Railway Company /'. Barnes (S. Dak., 366, 369); but, as was 
claimed bv counsel for defendants at the time, and as it seems to the court, the South 
Dakota case is opposed to the doctrine laid down by the Supreme Court of the United 
States in Knight w. Land Association (142 U. S., 161), and other cases cited in their 
brief. 

In the Knight case Mr. Justice Lamar, in speaking for the court, said: 

"The phrase, 'under the direcrtion of the Secretary of the Intenor,' as used in 
these sections of the statutes (referring to certain sections of the Revised Statutes 
relating to the duties of the Commi.«sioner of the General Land Office in respect to 
the surveying and sale of the public land to be performed ' under the direction of the 
Secretary of the Interior'), is not meaningless, but was inti'n(le<l as an expression in 
general terms of the power of the Secretary to supervise and control the extensive 
operations of the Land Department of which he is the head, and 'such supervision,' 
says the court, 'inay be exercised by direct orders or by review on appeal.' " 

The wisdom of Congress in thus giving to the Secretary of the Interior supervisory 
power over the segregation of these lands is made manifest by the very confusion and 
mischief that would result were this segregation, with its many errors, to stand as 
the final and finished work of the Commission. The Secretary, however, possessing 

S. Doc. 16 7 



98 MEMOKIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

and claiming, as he does, the power to revise, correct, and, if necessary, to amend in 
whole or in part these acts and proceedings of the Commission, and thus prevent the 
very evils that might otherwise follow, has now l)efore him a full report of such acts 
and proceedings with a view of determining whether they are in conformity with the 
acts of Congress pertaining thereto, or not. 

The question thus presented is, has this court the power to interpose liy injunction 
to restrain him from doing this? 

If the court is correct in its conclusion that this is a matter within the jurisdiction 
and c(jntrol of the Secretary, then it must be admitted that its determination involves 
the exercise of judgment and discretion, and therefore can not be enjoined or con- 
troUetl by the judiidal power. 

It has been the uniform holding of the Federal courts that an executive officer, 
while engaged in the ])erformance of a duty involving the exercise of judgment and 
discretion, can not be interfered with in respect to such duty by the judicial power. 

In the case of New Orleans v. Pain (147 U. S., 261), Mr. Justice Brown, in deliver- 
ing the opinion of the court, said: 

"The general rule is that the judicial power will not interpose, by mandamus or 
injunction, to limit or direct the action of departmental officers in respect of matters 
pending within their jurisdiction and control. * * * That if he (meaning the head 
of a department) were engaged in the performance of a duty which involved the exer- 
cise of discretion or judgment he was entitled to protection from any interference by 
the judicial power." 

In Brown r. Hitchcock (173 U. S., 433, 477), the court, among other things, said: 

"As a general rule, no mere matter of administrati'fi in the various Executive 
Departments of the Government can, pending such adr. inistration, be taken away 
from such departments and carried into the courts; those departments must be per- 
mitted to proceed to the final accomplishment of all matters pending before them, 
and only after that disposition may the courts be invr ed to inquire whether the 
outcome is in accord with the laws of the United States^" 

It is said by the court in Dunlap v. Black (p. 48): 

"The court will not interfere by mandamus with the executive officers of the 
Government in the exercise of their ordinary official duties, even where those duties 
require an interpretation of the law, the court having no appellate power for that 
purpose. * * * Whether, if the law were properly before us for consideration, 
we should be of the same opinion or of a different opinion is of no consequence in 
the decision of the case. 

"In Kirwin v. Murphy (189 U. S., 55) the court quotes with approval the follow- 
ing passage found in the case of Litchfield v. The Register and Receiver (9 Wall., 
577,579): 

" 'The principle has been so repeatedly decided in this court that the judiciary can 
not interfere, either by mandamus or injunction, with executive officers, such as the 
respondents here, in the discharge of their official duties, unless those duties are of a 
character purely ministerial and involving no exercise of judgment or discretion, 
that it would be useless to repeat it here.' " 

In United States ex rel. Riverside Oil Company r. Hitchcock (decided May 18, 
1903, by the court of appeals, District of Columbia), the court says that — 

"Neither an injunction nor mandamus will lie against an officer of the Land De- 
partment to control him in discharging an official duty which requires the exercise 
of his judgment and discretion. * * * Mandamus has never been regarded as the 
proper Avrit to control the judgment and discretion of an officer as to the decision of a 
matter which the law gave him the power and imposed upon him the duty to decide 
for himself." 

Associate Justice Miller, in delivering the opinion of the court in Gaines v. Thomp- 
son (7 Wall., 347, 352, 353), said that this doctrine— 

" * * * Is as applicable to the writ of injunction as it is to the writ of man- 
damus. 

"In the one case the officer is required to abandon his right to exercise his personal 
judgment, and to substitute tliat of the court, by performing the act as it commands. 
In the other he is forbidden to do the act which his judgment and discretion tell liim 
should be done. There can be no difference in the principle which forbids interfer- 
ence with the duties of these officers, whether it be by writ of mandanuis or injunc- 
tion." 

In Mississippi r. Johnson, supra, 498, the court draws a distinction between a 
ministerial iind judicial duty in the following lauguage: 

"A ministerial duty, the i)erformance of which could, in proper cases, be i-equired 
of the head of a department l\v judicial process, is one in respei't to which notliing is 
left to discretion. It is a simple, definite duty, arising under conditions admitted or 
proved to exist, and imjKJsed by law." 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 99 

It is settled law that where the law prescribes that before an act shall be final it 
must receive the approval of the head of a department, tlie duty of approval is a judi- 
cial and not a ministerial duty. (iSee Wisconsin Central Raih-oad Company r. Price, 
supra; United States v. Williams (11^8 U. S., supra); Ops. Attorney-Ceneral, Vol. 
XIV, pp. 50, 52, 645.) 

If there is any plain ministerial duty to be performed by the Secretary in this whole 
matter, it is found in section 59 of the act of 1902, which retpiires him to approve the 
patents issued to allottees for their res]>ective allotments by the principal chief of 
the Cherokee Nation; that is to say, if the Secretary were to refuse to a{)prove such 
patents, after the same have been regularly executed for delivery by the principal 
chief, he could not excuse himself from so doing by insisting that such act was one 
of administrative propriety involving judicial discretion rather than a merely minis- 
terial dutv. 

:\Ir. Justice ^Tiller in Johnson r. Towsley (13 Wall., 7283): 

" When the law is conlided to a special tribunal, the authority to hear and deter- 
mine such matters arising in the course of its duties, the decision of that tribunal, 
within the scope of its authority, is conclusive upon all others." 

1. The solicitors for complainants have strongly insisted and ably argued, however, 
"that Congress, in and by section 25 (act of 1898) and section 23 (act of 1902), 
intended to provide, and did provide, for the judicial ascertainment and adjudication 
of the 'rights' of the Delawares to the lands selected and oc("upied by them (includ- 
ing their titles), and for the 'segregation' of said lands in such manner as shall pre- 
serve them in such condition that the judgment of the court, when rendered, may 
be applied thereto." 

2. "That in this plain purpose and scheme of legislation there is no room or occa- 
sion for the exercise of any 'discretion' by the Secretary of the Interior," Congress 
having thus committed to the judiciary the jurisdiction which, in respect to the public 
lands, rests with the Secretary; that when the judgment of the Supreme Court shall 
have been rendered and the Commission shall proceed to the work of allotment in 
conformity to the terms of the judgment and the individual rights of the Delawares, 
the question of the duty of the Secretary, in respect of that situation and the correc- 
tion of errors, will be presented. 

If you concede the first proposition, viz, that Congress has by these two sections 
committed to the judiciary the jurisdiction which, in respect to the public lands, rests 
with the Secretary, and has also committed to the judiciary the adjudication, not 
only of the rights of the Delawares to the lands selected and occupied by them, but 
the very titles to them, as web as the segregation of said lands, in such manner as the 
court may determine appropriate to its judgment, then you may well concede the 
second, viz, that in this scheme of legislation there is neither room nor occasion for 
the exercise of "discretion" by the Secretary of the Interior, and that the statute 
lays no duty upon hiui until it comes to the matter of allotment in conformity to the 
court's judgment, when the question of correcting errors may be jiresented. 

But why should Congre.ss have made this case so exceptional? And especially when it 
has beenthesettled and uniform policy of the Government, eversincetheestablishment 
of the Department of the Interior more than half a century ago, to place the super- 
vision and control of the Indians and of Indian affairs in the hands of the Secretary 
of the Interior; a policy that certainly is not to be abrogated unless the intention so 
to do is plainly manifest in the statute. The court has already called attention to 
these two sections in connection with section 22 of the act t)f 1898, as clearly impos- 
ing upon the Secretary the duty of directing said segregation and officially approving 
it before it can become effective, and that this duty is not ministerial but judicial in 
its character and therefore calls for the exercise of a sound discretion. 

The jurisdiction thus conferred upon the Commission and Secretary is, in the 
opinion of the court, quite apart from that conferred upon the Court of Claims and the 
Supreme Court of the United States on appeal. A controversy having arisen between 
the Cherokee Nation and the Delawares in respect to these lands, that is, as to what 
the Delawares obtained l)y their purchase of 1867 and their "rights" under that con- 
tract. Congress determined that this controversy should be made the subject of judi- 
cial imjuiry and adjudication. It therefore conferred jurisdiction upon tlie Court of 
Claims with the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, for that 
purpose and for no other. The jurisilii-tion thus conferred upon the judiciary was 
exclusive, leaving nothing for the determination of the Secretary of the Interior, so 
far as the subject-matter of the suit, or the "rights" of the Delawares therein, are 
concerned. The jurisdiction of the Connnission and the Secretary of the Interior, 
touching the segregation and allotment of said lands, is e(iually exclusive, leaving 
nothing, so far as the segregation and allotmrnt of said lands are concerned, for the 
determination of the courts. 



100 MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

The jurisdiction of the court and of this special tribunal being thus independent 
of each other as to their respective duties, and Congress having framed the act of 
1902 so as to meet the situation, whether the segregation preceded or succeeded the 
final judgment of the court, it must be assumed from that fact and from the very- 
issue involved in the suit that in the meantime the rights of both parties, "as the 
same may be finally determined by the court," are fully and absolutely protected, 
as is expressly provided for in section 23, and moreover, that when the court renders 
its judgment there can be no possible difficulty in allotting and disposing of said 
lands to the Dela wares "in conformity to the terms of the judgment and their indi- 
vidual rights thereunder." 

In the course of the argument in this case, which was able and exhaustive on both 
sides, considerable stress was laid upon the fact that, by stipulation of counsel, the 
amended schedule of segregated lands, so called, has been embodied in the record of 
the suit now pending in the Supreme Court of the United States, and therefore the 
judgment of that court must necessarily be based upon such schedule. Even the 
Commission, in its report of April 20, 1903, expressed some apprehension that the 
Supreme Court, in deciding the Delaware suit, may approve this schedule, thus 
made a part of the record in that case. In my view of the case this apprehension is 
entirely groundless. No stipulation of counsel can oust either the court, or the Com- 
mission, or the Secretary of the Interior, of their respective jurisdiction and duty 
under the law. 

This attempted segregation did not thereby become complete and final, and it can 
not become so until the specific lands to be set apart for the Delawares have been 
duly selected and properly and correctly scheduled; exclusive jurisdiction to <lo this 
is conferred upon the Dawes Commission, subject to the direction of the Secretary of 
the Interior, as provided in section 23 of the act of 1902. While an imperfect, 
unapproved, and impossible schedule has thus found its way into the record in the 
pending suit of the Delawares against the Cherokees, it can be of no binding force 
until it has been revised and amended so as to meet the requirements of the statutes, 
and is then finally ratified and affirmed by the Commission and the Secretary of the 
Interior, to whom are given exclusive jurisdiction in this behalf. 

The province of the court is not to approve such schedule, but it is simply to 
decide the questions involved in that suit, and to determine what interest the Dela- 
ware citizens have in the lands and funds of the Cherokee Nation. 

The segregation of the 157,000 acres was not, and is not, a condition precedent to 
the institution and final determination of said suit; the final judgment of the court is 
not to apply to a given schedule of segregated lands embodied or to be embodied in 
the record of the case, but on the contrary it was and is to apply to the specific lands 
embraced in the final and completed segregation, when made by the Commission, 
under the direction of the Secretary, whether that segregation be made before the 
bringing of the suit, or during its pendency, or after final judgment therein. 

1. Section 25 of the act of 1898 provides that before any allotment shall be made 
in the Cherokee Nation the Commission shall segregate therefrom 157,000 acres, but 
that such segregation shall be subject to the judicial determination of the rights of 
said descendants and the Cherokee Nation, under their agreement of April 8, 1867. 

2. The same section authorizes the bringing of the suit now pending in the 
Supreme Court for that purpose. 

3. Section 23 of the act of 1902 declares that "all Delaware Indians who are mem- 
bers of the Cherokee Nation shall take lands and share in the funds of the tribe as 
their rights" (thereto) "may be determined by the judgment of the Court of Claims, 
or by the Supreme Court if appealed * * * in the suit now pending. " 

Therefore it was that, inasmuch as the Commission had not, up to that time (July 
1, 1902), segregated the 157,000 acres or made any allotments to the Cherokee 
Nation, as they were empowered to do under section 25 of the act of 1898; and might 
not do so until after the Supreme Court had decided said suit and thereby deter- 
mined the rights of the parties under the agreement of 1867, that it was expressly 
provided by section 23what should be done by the Commission in the meantime, viz: 

(a) " If said suit be not determined before said Commission is ready to begin the 
allotment * * * the Commission shall cause to be segregated 157,600 acres of 
land, etc. * * * such lands so to remain, subject to disposition according to such 
judgment as may be rendered in said cause. 

( l>) ".\nd said Connnission shall thereupon proceed to the allotment of the remain- 
ing lands." 

The necessary inference being that, if the suit was decided V)ef(jre the Commission 
is ready to begin the allotment, they must proceed in the same way, viz: 

1. Segregate the 157,()00 acres for the Delawares. 

2. Allot the remaining lands of the C'herokee Nation. 

But in any event, whether this segregation and allotment took place before or after 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 101 

the determination of naid suit, the 157,600 acres once segregated were to be kept 
segregated — 

"Subject to disposition according to such judgment as may be (or may have been) 
rendered in said cause, and when (such) tinal judgment is rendered (said Commis- 
sion), shall allot lands to such Delawares in conformity to the terms of the judgment 
and their individual rights thereunder." 

In view of tlie fact that section 2.'^ also j^rovides that "nothing in this act (1902) 
shall in any manner impair the rights of either party to said contract (1867) * * * 
or interfere with the holdings of the Uelawares under the same until their rights 
* * * are determined by the courts in their suit now pending." 

There was nothing in the situation demanding that the 157,600 acres should first 
be segregated and a schedule thereof made a part of the record in that case in order 
that the judgment might be effective. In the very nature of the case the judgment 
can operate with equal certainty and with ecjual justice on these segregated lands, 
whether such segregation occurs before or after such judgment is rendered. The 
only possible way to defeat this would be through an actual and conflicting allot- 
ment of the remaining lands (sui'h as was jiartially effected in this case) before the 
segregation has been regularly and flnally completed. 

Congress has wisely provide<l against such contingency — 

"1. By providing in effect that the segregation to Ije made by the Commission 
is to be made under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, which in effect 
means subject to his approval. 

"2. That no allotment of the remaining lands can be legally made until there is 
first segregated and set apart therefrom the 157,600 acres for the Delawares in 
manner and form required by the statutes." 

It tlierefore follows that as no allotment can be made until the segregation is 
finally and correctly completed, and as such segregation will not be so completed 
until all necessary amendments and corrections thereof have been made and finally 
approved, that the rights of both parties to the contracts of 1867 and the holdings of 
the Delawares thereunder, as the same maj^ be finally determined by the court, are 
amply safeguarded, and that the judgment of the court, whicli is to determine the 
rights of the Delawares in and to the lands and funds of the Cherokee Nation gener- 
ally, and not the title to specific lands and allotments, will operate with equal effect 
upon the 157,600 acres, whether the same be segregated before or after the rendition 
of such judgment by the Supreme Court of the United States. 

" It is not * * * the mere fact that a public officer is attempting to exercise a 
void authority which induces a court of equity to restrain him, l)ut that, notwith- 
standing he is a public officer, he is about by such exercise to do an act which 
brings the case within its peculiar jurisdiction." (Eaton on Equity, p. 604.) 

So, in this case, there is nothing in the light of the sworn answer of the Secretary 
of the Interior and accompanying affidavits and exhibits filed herein to warrant the 
relief prayed for, either on the ground of irreparable injury to the rights of the com- 
plainants, the avoidance of a multiplicity of actions or proceedings to correct alleged 
wrongs, or upon any other ground set up in the bill or falling within any one of the 
acknowledged heads of equity. 

In view of the opinion thus announced by the court, the injunction prayed for in 
this case is denied and the temporary restraining order discharged. 



Exhibit 53. 

Public yiotice. 

This office having ofllcial information of the refusal by the supreme court, District 
of Columbia, of the injunction asked for relating to the appHcation for allotment by 
certain Cherokee citizens of lands embraced in the Delaware segregation, and of the 
disciharge of the temporary restraining order concerning the same, the following 
order of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes i^ again put into ojjeration, viz: 

"That Cherokee citizens not of Delaware blood occupying lands embraced in the 
Delaware segregation shall be permitted to make application for such lands, and any 
claimants may institute contest proceedings for the same, provided that all such 
applications and contests shall be held suspended pending the determination of the 
rights of claimants to such lands as provided in the Cherokee agreement approved 
July 1, 1902." 

C. R. Brpxkinridge, 
Commissioner in Cfutrge Chi'rukec Land Office. 

Respectfully, . 



102 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Exhibit 54. 

In the supreme court of the District of Columbia. George Bullette et al. v. Ethan 

Allen Hitchcock, Secretary of the Interior, et al. No. 23,991. Equity Doc. 53. 

This cause coming on to be heard upon bill of complaint and exhibits, the answer 
of the defendant, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, Secretary of the Interior, and affidavits, 
the amended bill of complaint and exhibits, and the answer of said defendant 
Hitchcock thereto and exhibits, and being argued by counsel, it is, by the court, 
this 6th day of October, A. D. 1903, adjudged, ordered, and decreed that the prelim- 
inary injunction prayed for in said bill be, and it is hereby, denied, and that the 
temporary injunction heretofore granted in this cause be, and it is hereby, discharged. 

Thos. H. Anderson, Justice. 

A true copy. 

Test: 

[seal of court.] J. R. YouNfj, Clerk, 

By F. E. Cunningham, Assistant Clerk. 



Exhibit 55. 



October 6, 1903. 



The Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Muscogee, Ind. T. 

Gentlemen: Section 22 of the act of July 1, 1902 (32 Stat., 716, 718), entitled "An 
act to provide for the allotment of the lands of the ('herokee Nation, for the dispo- 
sition of town sites therein, and for other purposes," as follows: 

"Exclusive jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon the Commission to the Five 
Civilized Tribes under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, to determine 
all matters relative to the appraisement and the allotment of lands." 

Section 23 (pp. 718, 719) provides that — 

Sec. 23. All Delaware Indians who are members of the Cherokee Nation shall take 
lands and share in the funds of the tribe, as their rights may be determined by the 
judgment of the Court of Claims, or by the Supreme Court if appealed, in the suit 
instituted therein by the Delawares against the Cherokee Nation, and now pending; 
but if said suit be not determined before said Commission is ready to begin the allot- 
ment of lands of the tribe as herein provided, the Commission shall cause to be seg- 
regated one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred acres of land, including 
lands which have been selected and occupied by Delawares in conformity to the pro- 
visions of their agreement with the Cherokees dated April eighth, eighteen hundred 
and sixty-seven, such lands so to remain, suliject to disposition according to such 
judgment as may be rendered in said cause; and said Commission shall thereupon 
proceed to the allotment of the remaining lands of the tribe as aforesaid. Said Com- 
mission shall, when final judgment is rendered, allot lands to such Delawares in con- 
formity to the terms of the judgment and their individual rights thereunder. Nothing 
in this act shall in any manner impair the rights of either party to said contract as 
the same may be finally determined by the court, or shall interfere with the holdings 
of the Delawares under their contract with the Cherokees of April eighth, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-seven, until their rights under said contract are determined by 
the courts in their suit now pending against the Cherokees, and said suit shall be 
advanced on the dockets of said courts and determined at the earliest time practi- 
cable. 

The suit referred to in section 23 of the act was decided by the Court of Claims 
adversely to the Delawares on February 2, 1903, and was subsequently appealed by 
them to the Sui)reme Court of the United States, where it is now pending. 

April 20, 1903, your ('ommission made a report of its at^tion with respect to com- 
pliance with the provisions of said .section 23, from which report it appears, among 
other tilings, as follows: That on December 16, 1902, there was filed with your Com- 
mission by Walter S. Logan, claiming to be the attorney for the Delaware Indians, a 
schedule of lands aggregating 157,600 acres selected by Delawares and claimed by 
them under the agreement of April 8, 1867, with the Cherokee Nation; that on 
December 17, 1902, l)y resolution, your chairman was instructed to "cause to be set 
aside and segregated 157,600 acres of land in the Cherokee Nation in accordance with 
the provisions of section 23 of the act of Congress ai)i)roved July 1, 1902 ( Public, No. 
241), subject to disposition according to such judgment as may be rendered in the 
case of the Delaware Inilians /■. The Cherokee Nation now pending in the Tnited 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAAVARE INDIANS. 103 

States Court of Claims and as shown by the description of said land" in the sehedule 
referred to; that on January 1, 1903, your Coniniission opened the Cherokee allotment 
othce at Vinita, Ind. T., and proceeded to the allotment of the remaining lands of the 
Cherokee tribe; that on January 23, 1003, your Commission received from Riciiard 
C. Adams, claimiuii' to represent the Delaware Indians, an alle.u'ed correcteil schedule 
of lands selected by them; that since January 1, 1!)0.">, a numl)er of Cherokee citizens 
have made ai>]>lication for allotments of lands end)raced wholly or in part in the 
aforesaid schedules, claiming to have been for years in the possession of tlie lands 
asked for and to own valuable improvements tiiereon, and that "no Delaware citizen 
has ever occupied such lands or owned any improvements thereon;" that a number 
of Delaware Indians, since the filing of said schedules and the opening; of the allot- 
ment othct', have made requests to be "allowed to make final selections of land con- 
tainintx their improvements and upon which they reside, claiming that no i)ortion of 
the lands is included witliin the said Delaware segregation;" that the Comyiission 
has been advised that there are "numerous other Delaware citizens whose improved 
lands are not included within the said segregation," and "whose property rights are 
thus unprotected." Yt)ur Commission states, among other things, that it believes 
that the lands embraced in said schedules "have not been selected with a due regard 
for the interests of either the Delaware citizens generally or other citizens of the 
Cherokee Nation." The schedules of lands so selected by the Delaware Indians were 
not transmitted to nor formally approved Vjy the Secretary of the Interior. 

The act referred to above imposes upon your Commission the duty of investiga- 
ting and determining what lands are subject to segregation, and your Commission 
can not substitute the judgment of the Delaware Indians, or any of them, or anyone 
acting for them or any of them, for your own judgment in this matter. To be effect- 
ive the segregation must be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, and pending 
such approval your Commission should not proceed to allot any of the lands in the 
Cherokee Nation. When the segregation is made and approved no application for 
allotment of any of the lands so segregated should be received by your Commission 
pending the determination of the suit in question. 

It seems clear that the list or schedule of lands does not meet the requirement of 
the statute in that it does not include all the lands which have been selected and 
occu{)ied l)y Delawares and in that it does include lands which no Delaware has 
selected and occupied, but to which other Cherokee citizens have claims based upon 
alleged settlement and itnprovements thereon. You will, therefore, proceed at once 
to make such examination and investigation as will enable you to determine what 
tracts should be added to said list and what tracts now emtiraced therein should be 
excluded, care being taken to make the list cover the full (juantity of land retjuired 
to be segregated. You will as soon as possible report the results of such investiga- 
tion, with suitable recommendations in the premises. In the meantime, and until 
the segregation shall have become effective, you will suspend all proceedings looking 
to the allotment of lands in the Cherokee Nation. 
Very respectfully, 

Tnos. Ryax, Acting Secretary. 



Exhibit 56. 

Departmext of the Interior, 

Washinyton, October 9, 1903. 
'Sir. RicHAKD C. Adams, 

Bond Building, Washington, D. C. 
Sir: The Department is in receipt of yours of the 6th instant inclosing a cojiy of a 
letter addressed by you to the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes. In said 
letter to the ('oinmission you state that you desire on behalf of the Delaware Indians 
to be alloweil "to answer as to each particular tract that is in dispute; that the com- 
plete record of the same may be maile and transmitted with your re])ort to the Sec- 
retary, before whom we can have a last chance to present our side of the case." 

A copy of the instructions to the Conunission has been .«ent you, and doul)tless 
there will be no difiiculty in your being present or representetl before the Commission 
when they proceed to consider the conflicting rights of parties to the tracts in con- 
troversy, if you so desire. The Department, however, v.ill not expect the Commi.«sion 
to delay action on account of the absence of i)arties or attorneys representing them 
in respect of the disi)uted tracts. Prompt, ettit-ient, and just action will be expected 
of the Commission. 

A copy of this letter has this day been sent to the Conunission for its information. 
Respectfully, 

Thos. Ryan, Acting Secretanj. 



104 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Exhibit 57. 

Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Tahlequah, Ind. T., October 1£, 1903. 
Richard C. Adams, 

Bond Buildhig, Washington, D. C. 
Dear sir: This office is in receipt of your letter of the 6th instant, statinji that the 
Secretary of the Interior has advised you in person that lie lias instructed this Conunis- 
sion to report as to what lands should be omitted from the Delaware segregation, and 
what lands should be included therein, and requesting on behalf of the Delawares 
that you be allowed to answer as to each particular trai't that is in dispute, that the 
complete record of the same be made and transmitted with the Commission's report 
to the Secretary, in order that you may have a last chance to present your side of the 
case. 

You request to be notiiied immediately at what time and place the "contest" will 
begin. In reply I have to say that this office has not yet been instructed by the 
Commission with respect to putting into execution the order of the Secretary, the 
method of doing which will probably require careful consideration; but your wish 
will be submitted to the Commission with the request that you be advised of its 
action in regard thereto. 

Respectfully, C. R. Breckinridge, 

Commissioner in Charge Cherokee Land Office. 



Exhibit 58. 

Department of the Interior, 

Washington, October 15, 1903. 
Mr. Richard C. Adams, 

Bond Building, Washington, D. C. 

Sir: The Department is in receipt of your communication, dated October 9, 1903, 
relative to the claims of the Delaware Indians, stating, among otlier things, that "all 
the Delawares want is fair treatment at the hands of the Dawes Commission;" also 
requesting " permission to appear before the Dawes Commission at any sittings it 
may have for the purpose of finally determining what lands shall be included in the 
Delaware segregation, and that a complete record and report may be made of such 
proceedings, in order that we (you) may have the opportunity to file exceptions for 
review" by this Department, in case you consider that the segregation has not been 
made in accordance with the law and in full justice to the Delawares. 

It is evident that when your said letter was written you had not received depart- 
mental letter of October 9, in response to yours of the 6th instant, inclosing a letter 
addressed by you to the Dawes Commission, asking to be allowed "to answer as to 
each particular tract that is in dispute, that the complete record of the case may be 
made and transmitted with your (their) report to the Secretary, before whom we 
(you) can have a last chance to present our side of the case." 

In said letter you were advised that a copy of the instructions to the Commission 
had been .sent you, and "doubtless there will be no difficulty in your being present 
or represented l)efore the Commission when they proceed to consider the confiicting 
rights of parties to the tracts in controversy, if you so desire. The Department will 
not expect the Commission to delay action on account of the al)sence of parties or 
attorneys representing them in resi)ect of the disputed tracts. Prompt, efiicient, and 
just action will be expected of the Commission." 

It is hardly necessary to assure you that the Department earnestly desires that its 
every action shall be in strict accord with the ijrinciples of justice as to the rights of 
both the Delawares and the Cherokees. 

Respectfully, Thos. Ryan, Acting Secretary. 



hlKiiuiiT 59. 

Department qf the Interior, 

Washington, Octof>er 17, 1903. 
Mr. R. C. Adams, 

Bond Bnildi)ig, Washington, D. C. 
Sir: The Department is in receipt of a conuiiunication from the Commissioner of 
Indian Affairs, dated October 10, 1903, forwarding a report from the Cmnmission to 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 105 

the Five Civilized Tribes, dated October 2, upon your letter of September 9, protest- 
ing against the action of the Conimist^ion in allowing Cherokee to file on lands listed 
for the Delaware Indians in the Cherokee Nation, which was referred to said Com- 
mission for report on September 19, 1903. 

The Commissioner closes his report by a quotation from departmental letter of 
October 6, 1903, directing the Dawes Commission to proceed to make an examination 
and investigation and report the list of tracts which should be segregate<l for the 
Delawares to the Department for considrration. The Commissioner states: 

"All complaints can now be investigated and passed upon l)y the Commission and 
the Department upon their merits; and there is no reason why any land in the pos- 
session of the l>elawares should not be included in the list, or why any land claimed 
by the Cherokee should be included therein." 

Respectfully, Thos. Kvax, Acting Secretary. 



Exhibit 60. 

commission to the five civilized tribes. 

Tahleqiiah, Ind. T., October £1, 1903. 
Richard C. Adams, 

Bond Budding, Washington, D. C. 
Dear Sir: Replying to your letter of September 8, asking to be furnished with the 
names of persons who have made ai)iilication for land embraced in the Delaware 
segregation, their post-offit-e addresses, etc., you are advised that this information 
has been furnished to Mr. George S. Chase, who personally called for it at the 
Cherokee land office. 

Respectfully, C. R. Breckinridge, 

Comtnissioner in Charge Cherokee Land Office. 



Exhibit 61. 

Department of the Interior, 

Washington, October 21, 1903. 
Mr. Richard C. Adams, 

Bond Building, Washington, D. C. 

Sir: The Department is in receipt of a report from the Commission to the Five 
Civilized Tribes, dated October 7, 1903, upon your letter dated Septendjer 14, 1903, 
alleging that very great wrongs are being perpetrated upon the Delaware Indians in 
the Indian Territory, by reason of the failure of the United States to protect them 
in their treaty rights, specially charging that said Commission, after notice of the 
restraining order issued by the suj)reme court of the District of Columbia, "con- 
tinued to receive selections and applications for allotments" upon lands alleged to 
have been segregated for the Delawares. 

The Commission denies said allegation and refers to its report of October 2, 1903, 
in which it was stated that a "mistake was made in checking over lands embraced 
in the Delaware segregation when certain applications were made, and through a 
mistake was signed and sent out. If there has been any other notit'e excei)t the one 
sent to Mr. R. C. Adams hiniiJelf the Connnission at this time is not aware, and 
certainly no attempt was niatle to evade the restraining onler referred to by Mr. 
Adams in his letter, and no intentional violation was made of it by the Commission, 
as strict orders were given, immediately upon notice that said restraining order had 
been issued, that no action whatever should he taken by the Land Office regarding 
lands embraced within the Delaware segregation." 

In view of the instructions given the Commission on October 6, 1903, a copy of 
which has been furnished you, it is not deemed necessary to comment further upon 
the report of the Commission. 

Respectfully, Thos. Ryan, Acting Secrctarg. 



106 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Exhibit 62. 

In the supreme court of the District of Cokimbia, holding an equity court. George 
Bullette et al., complainants, v. Ethan Allen Hitchcock et al., defendants. In 
equity, No. 23991. 

At the request of Walter S. Logan, Nathaniel Wilson, and George S. Chase, esqs., 
solicitors for complainants, I hereby fix Friday, the 23d day of October, 1903, at 3 
o'clock p. ni., and the law offices of said Nathaniel Wilson, esq., in the Pacific Build- 
ing, Nos. 622 and 624 F street NW., in the city of Washington, D. C, asthetimeand 
place when and where testimony on behalf of the complainants in the above-entitled 
cause will be taken before me. 

E. L. White, 
Examiner in Chancery. 
Morgan H. Beach, Esq., 

Solicitor for Defendants: 
Please take notice that at the time and place fixed in the foregoing order we shall 
proceed to take testimony on behalf of the complainants in the above-entitled cause. 

Walter S. Logan, 
Nathaniel Wilson, 
Georc^e S. Chase, 
Solicitors for Complainants. 
Due and sufficient service of a cojjy of the foregoing order and notice is hereby 
acknowledged. 



Solicitor for Defendants. 



Exhibit 63. 



In the supreme court of the District of Columbia. George Bullette et al., complain- 
ants, V. Ethan Allen Hitchcock et al., defendants. In equity. No. 23991. 
Be it remembered that pursuant to the foregoing and annexed notice, at an exam- 
ination of witnesses begun and held on the 23d day of October, 1903, an<l at other 
times agreealjly to adjournments, as hereinafter stated, personally appeared before 
me, Enoch L. White, an examiner in chancery of the supreme court of the District 
of Columbia, the within-name<l Tams Bixby, who, being produced as witness of law- 
ful age for and on behalf of the complainants herein, and being first duly sworn and 
cautioned to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothina but the truth touching the 
matters at issue in the above-entitled cause, did depose and say as follows: 

complainants' testimony. 

Washington, D. C, October 28, 1903 — 3 o'clock p. m. 

Met pursuant to notice at the office of Nathaniel Wilson, in the Pacific Building. 

Present: Nathaniel Wilson, esq., solicitor for the complainants, and Richard C. 
Adams, one of the complainants; Morgan H. Beach, esq., and W. C. Pollock, esq., 
solicitors for the defendants. Whereupon 

Tams Bixby, a witness of lawful age, called by and on behalf of the complainants, 
having been first duly sworn, is examined. 

By Mr. Wilson: 

Q. Please state your name, your residence, and occupation. — A. ]My name is Tams 
Bixby; my residence Red Wing, Minn.; 1 am 47 years old. 

Q. State your position or occupation. — A. My jjosition is a member of the Commis- 
sion to the Five Civilized Tribes. 

Q. How long have you been a member of the Commission you speak of? — A. About 
six and a half years. 

Q. This is an examination of you as a witness in the case of jBullette against the 
Secretary of the Interior and others in ecpiity. No. 23991, in the supreme court of the 
District of Columbia. Were you served with jjrocess in this cause as a defendant? — 
A. I exjiect so. I do not know it by that nuinljer. 

Q. You filed an affidavit, or you made an affidavit which was filed in this cause? — 
A. I made an affidavit last spring. 

Q. The affidavit I in(|uire of purports to have been made on the 13th of June, 
1903, and is marked and filed in the case. Please say if you identify your signature 
to it. — A. Yes, sir; that is niv sitrnature. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 107 

Q. When did you enter upon your duties as member of the Commission commonly 
known as the Dawes Connnission?— A. I think it was about the 22d day of May, 1.S97. 
Q. Where were the headquarters of the Commission at tliat time? — A. Fort (iib- 
son, Ind. T. 

Q. From that time to the present time you have been continuously a member of 
said Conunission?— A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where were you at the time of the passage of the act known as the Curtis A'j.t, 
approved June 28,' 1898?— A. lam not certain whether I was in Washington or in 
the Territory. 

Q. What was your position on or in relation to the Conunission at that time? — A. 
I was acting chairman. 

Q. Who was the chairman? — A. Henry L. Dawes. 

Q. At the time of the passage of that act was there in the records or in the office 
of the Commission any list, record, or description of the 157,600 acres of land known 
as the land purcha,<ed by the Delawares of the Cherokees? 

(At this point the defendant thinks proper to interpose a general objection which 
will l)t' applical)le to the examination of this witness: 

First. Whatever the action by this Commission may have been, it was subject to 
the approval of the Secretary of the Interior and was ineffective vvithout such ratifi- 
cation. 

Second. If later it be attempted to show any approval ))y the Secretary of the Inte- 
rior, it is contended that within him was the power of review of such action on his 
part. 

It is agreed that this objection may apply to any question that may be asked relat- 
ing to the administration of the lawor laws by the Secretary of the Interior. ) 
A. I do not know. 

il. Was there in the office of the Commission or among its records any list or 
description of the lands that were then occupied by the Delawares in the Indian 
Territory? — A. I do not know. 

Q. Was there at that time any list of those who composed or were supposed to 
compose the Delaware tril)e? — A. I could not say definitely as to that. 

Q. Was there at that time in the office of the Commission or in its records any 
list of those composing the Cherokee Nation? — A. I could not answer as to the exact 
date when we obtained any of the records regarding lists of the Cherokee Nation. 
We have had such lists in our office for some time, but just when we procured them 
I could not say; whether Itefore that time or after it I would be unal)le to state. 

(In addition to the objections already stated, it is further objected that tlie Com- 
mission, as such, is not a party to this cause. ) 

Q. Was there at that time, in the office of the Commission, or had you yourself 
any personal knowledge of the descriptions of the lands in the Indian Territory 
then actually occujiied by the Delawares? — A. I had no personal knowledge of the 
lands actually occupied by the Delawares. 

LI Had you at that time, namely, at the time of the passage of said act, any means 
of ascertaining from the records of the Commission what lands were then occujiied 
by the Delawares? — A. I had no means of ascertaining, unless it might l)e thought 
or perhaps might be considered that schedules or claims that had possil)ly l)een filed 
by the Delawares would give that information; we had made no investigation. 

Q. Was there at that time any pajier, list, or schedule that had been filed with the 
Conunission showing or jiurporting to show the lands actually occupied by the Dela- 
wares?— A. In our ofHce there may have been; I do not know. If there was such 
a list filed at that time 1 may have known it, but do not recollect it now. 

Q. At the time of the passage of the act had the lands in the Indian Territory been 
surveyed? — A. Yes, sir. 

tj. All of them? — A. Yes, sir; that is my information and })elief. 
Q. Within your own personal knowledge what was the first thing done by the Ccmu- 
mission or by its direction in res])ect of the segregation of the Delaware lands under 
the provisions of the act of 1898, or in respect of the preparation for such .segrega- 
tion? — A. I think the first act that was ever taken by the Conunission in a formal 
way was an act done under the law of 1902. 

Q. To the best of your knowledge and recollection, then, nothing was done under 
the act of 1898 in respect of or in ])reparation for the segreg;ition of the Delaware 
lands? — A. I think the matter may have been considered, Imt no formal action was 
taken, as I recollect. 

Q. As a matter of fact, what, if any, directions were given by the Secretary of the 
Interior or the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to proceed with or prejiare for such 
segregation under tlie act referred to? 

((Question objected to under the grounds already stated, and for the furtlu-r ground 
that it is unfair to ask this witness as a matter of personal knowledge what is shown 
by the records of a semi judicial body. ) 



108 MEMOETAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS, 

A. I do not have any personal recollection in regard to it. 

Q. Do you mean that you do not remember anything in regard to the subject, or 
any instructions having been received? — A. I do not remember any instructions 
having been received under the act of 1898; there may have been. 

Q. What personal knowledge have you of the application made by the Delaware 
Indians through their attorney in August, 1898, immediately after the passage of the 
act, for the segregation to be made? — A. I recollect that such an application was 
made by somebody representing the Delawares. 

Q. Do you remember what, if any, action was taken on that application? — A. No, 
sir; I do not remember what the action was, nor just what was done. It may have 
and probal^ly did receive consideration. 

Q. You are familiar w'ith the provisions of the act of July 1, 1902, so far as it relates 
to the Delaware lands, are you not? — A. Fairly so, I think. 

Q. At the time of the passage of that act, what, to your personal knowledge, if any, 
action had lieen taken in respect of the segregation of the Delaware lands, or in 
respect of preparation for such segregation? — A. I do not remember of any formal 
action being taken up to that time. 

Q. At the time of the passage of that act what knowledge had you derived from 
the records of the Commission or from your own personal information of the lands 
that had been selected or occupied by the Delawares? — A. Why, I had seen, I think, 
a map showing lands that were claimed by the Delawares, but I had never given 
it any careful examination or thought. 

Q. What was the character of that map and where was it? — A. I do not recollect; 
could not say. I do not know whether it was a small map showing in red the lands 
claimed, or a big map, but I have a recollection that it was a map. 

Q. Were you at that time the acting chairman of the Commission? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was there at that time in the possession of the Commission any list or schedule 
of those composing the Delaware tribe? — A. I could not say. 

Q. Do you mean you do not remember? — A. I do not reniember as to that time. 

Q. Did you at that time, I mean at the date of the passage of the act, as chairman 
or as acting chairman of the Commission, know what lands were then actually occu- 
pied by the Delawares? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you, from the records of the Commission or from anj'^ papers there on file, 
then have the means of knowing what lands were actually occupied by the Dala- 
wares? — A. I do not know whether there were any records on file at that time or not 
that would give that information. We had made no investigation at that time. 

Q. You had at that time made no investigation into the matter of the segregation 
of the lands? — A. No formal investigation; no, sir. 

Q. After the passage of the act of July 1, 1902, what to your personal knowledge 
was the first step taken or proceeding instituted by the Commission in respect of the 
segregation of the Delaware lands? 

Mr. BixBv. Do you mean what was the first formal action taken by the Com- 
mission? 

Mr. WiLsox. I mean just what the question asks: What was the first action of the 
Commission? 

A. I can hardly answer intelligently unless I know what you wish to get at. The 
first formal step taken by the Commission as a body, as I recollect, was the passage 
of a resolution. 

Q. Do vou refer to the resolution adopted bv the Commission on December 17, 
1902?— A.' I think that is the date. 

Q. As shown by the exhibit in this case. No. 9 or D, that resolution directed the 
acting chairman to cause to be set aside and segregated the 157, HOO acres of land in 
the Cherokee Nation, in accordance with the provisions of vsection 2;^ of the act of 
July 1, 1902. You were at that time the acting chairman? — A. I think so. 

Q. Will you state what otticial action you took — what was actually done by you 
in the execution of that resolution? — A. I followed the direction of the resolution 
and had the lands claimed by the Delawares and described in a certain schedule or 
stipulation marked on the plats in red ink, on our land-otfice plats, that is to say, and 
set aside from allotment. 

Q. Please state as definitely as you can precisely what papers or other evidences 
of claim, selection, or occupation of the Delaware lands you had in your possession 
or that came within your knowledge in the execution and performance of the duty 
imposed upon you by the resolution I have just referred to. — \. We had a list or 
scho'dule which was agreed to by the representatives of the Delawares and the 
Cherokees us being the list of the lands claimed by the Delawares, subject to the 
lawful claims, as I understood it, of other Cherokees, and that list we used as a basis 
to make these drawings on the maps. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 109 

Q. Was that list in print or written, and from whom was it received? — A. It was 
printed and was received from the rejtresentatives of the Delawares. 

Q. Who were they, and how did it ^'et into the possession of the Coniniission?— A. 
I am not certain whether Mr. Logan or Mr. Adams fnrnished the Commission with 
that hst, but it was one or the other of them. 
Q. It was actually, bodily tliere? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know" when "that scheihde or report had l)een received?— A. No, sir; 
I could not tell the date. 

Q. When you received the report or schedule, wliat steps, if any, were taken to 
verify the descriptions in the lists as l)eing descriptions — 1 mean legal suljdivisions — 
of lands actually occupied by the Delawares.— A. Why, we endeavored to see that 
the descriptions were in proper form and described accurately i-ertain lands. We 
only knew as to whether they were occupied by Delawares by their statement that 
thev were. 

Q". How and to whom was that statement made?— A. Why, I think we either 
assumed that to be the case or it was so stated in the schedule. 

Q. What actual knowledge had you, as a member of the Commission, or the other 
members of the Commission, so far as you know, of the actual condition of the tracts 
ami subdivisions described in this schedule? — A. You mean the physical condition 
as to whether the Delawares were absolutely living on this lanil or not? Speaking for 
myself, I accepted tlieir claim that they were occupying it, that being an evidence 
that they were entitled to claim it; and inasmuch as the representatives of the 
Cherokee Nation had agreed that that was to be the land selected for the Delawares, 
I did not go on tlie lands or make any effort to ascertain that they were actually 
occupied by the Delawares. 

Q. Was any effort made by any other member of the Commission, or on their 
behalf, so far as you know, to ascertain who were the occupants of this land? — A. 
Not so far as I know as relating especially to Delawares. We had niade investiga- 
tions through the aid of surveyors, apjiraisers, and other field men for the purpose 
of ascertaining who did claim and occupy all the thickly settled portions of the Cher- 
okee Nation, but that did not relate especially as to whether they were Delawares or 
not. 

Q. Those investigations were not made with reference to the matter of segrega- 
tion? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Upon what information did you base your action in describijig or designating 
the Delaware lands under the act referred to? — A. Upon the information contained 
in this stipulation. 

Q. Were there any other papers, statements, petitions, or communications from 
any other persons or bodies? — A. There may have been, but so far as our action ia 
concerned, at least speaking for myself, my action was based on the schedule or list 
or stipulation, or whatever it may be called. 

Q. At the time of the action referred to, outside of and independent of the list fur- 
nished you as you have stated, what information had the Conmiission as to the local- 
ity and "component tracts of the 157,600 acres of land bought by the Delawares?— A. 
We had a map that showed lands claimed to be selected and occupied by Delawares. 
Q. And that was independent of and different from the map on which you in the 
resolution marke<l the tracts? — A. Y'es, sir. 

Q. That map had been prepared before? — A. It had been prepared by somebody. 
I do not know who. 

Q. Do >'ou know by whom that map had been prepared or when it first got into 
the Commission? — A. No, sir. 

Q. It was there for some time before this resolution was passed? — A. Yes, sir. 
Q. Please state as particularly as you can what knowledge you or the Conmiission 
had as to the particular suljdivisions constituting the 157, HOO acres of land claimed 
by the Delawares before the receipt of the schedule of which you have spoken. — A. 
I "think we had that map before we received the schedule, but" tlitl not give the niap 
any {particular consideration. We took the schedule in making the list and set aside 
the land. I think we checked up the schedule and the map to see how nearly they 
agreed. 

Q. From 1898 up to the time of the passage of the act of July 1, 1902. nothing had 
been dene or nothing completely done to ascertain and make in the Connnission any 
record showing what lands were actually occupied by the Delawares? — A. The reso- 
lution of December 17 was the first formal action taken by the Commission. Of 
course we had those matters, like others, under consideration at various times, but 
that was the first formal action taken by the Connnission, as I recollect it. 

Q. Will you state what was done by "marking, by resolution, or other action of the 
Commission to indicate and complete the act of segregation required by law. In 



110 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

other words, was the evidence of segregation preserved, and of what did the evidence 
of segregation consist? — A. We have in the land office a large plat prepared for each 
township in the entire nation, and upon these plats, as allotment prosrresses, the par- 
ticular lands selected by each applicant are illustrated in different colored inks, and 
the name of the allottee placed thereon. On those township plats, which are the 
plats upon which we placed all the allotments, was marked in red ink the particular 
lands described in this schedule. 

Q. Was it a mere coloring of the maps, or were there any letters or words to give 
any particular character? — A. On each of the township plats, as I recollect, it was 
only colored in red ink and no words written on the map. It is, however, thoroughly 
understood in the office that tho.se lands or any other lands marked in colors are set 
aside. Frequently we set aside town-site reservations or reservations for schools, 
churches, and colleges in that way, and it is well known in the office what that means. 
They are not always written down except so far as the allottee's name is concerned. 

Q. In respect of the subdivisions described in the list, will you state if there was 
prepared by the Commission, or in the Commission, and preserved any kind of list 
described as a list of segregated Delaware lands, or if any recoi'd was made in which 
the words "segregated" or "set apart" were used to describe what the Commission 
had done or undertaken to do? — A. I wrote Mr. Marr, a clerk in charge of the sur- 
vey division at that time, who was in charge of all the plats to be used in the Cherokee 
land office when it opened, a letter in which I stated that herewith accompanied a 
a list or schedule of Delaware lands, and directed him to set them aside on the plats 
of the Cherokee Nation. I could not remember the exact language that was used by 
me; I only know that I wrote that letter and furnished him with the schedule. 

Q. Do you remember the date of that? — A. No, I do not. From my usual way of 
doing business it was within a few days of the date of the resolution. 

Q. Do you know what action was taken by him in respect of that letter? — A. I know 
he put those lands on the plats, for I looked at them afterwards. He put them on 
the plats in red ink. 

Q. That letter was written by you as chairman or acting chairman of the Commis- 
sion? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Your letter was an official letter and is preserved in the archives? — A. I pre- 
sume so. 

Q. \Yhere was the list preserved and in whose personal custody was it? Where 
would it be kept? — A. It was in my personal charge, and I sent it to him. I suppose 
it is now in the Cherokee land office at Tahlequah. 

Q. At the time that that letter was written, was there in the Commission, or did 
there exist, so far as j^ou know, any objection or adverse claim in respect of the 
subdivisions which were referred to in your letter and in the list? — A. Not that I 
know of. 

Q. So far as you know, there was then no objection to your action from anyljody? — 
A. There was none, so far as I know. 

Q. What, if any, change was made in the list of segregated lands after the letter 
of which you speak was transmitted to ]\Ir. Marr? — A. There were some corrections 
made. 

Q. Please state as definitely as you remember exactly how these changes came to 
be made. — A. It was discovered in the first place that there were some not very 
material errors in the description, and the attention of the parties was called to this 
fact, and, as I remember it, the corrections were made upon agreement of the attor- 
neys and then made on our maps and plats. 

Q. At whose suggestion and at whose approval were these changes made? — A. 
They were suggested by ^Ir. ^Nlarr and approved by the attorneys representing both 
sides and myself. 

Q. Is it not true that these changes were few and unimportant? — A. There were 
several of them, but so far as the amount of land involved, unimportant. 

Q. How much land? — A. I could not say; but the first correction involved about 
60 acres. 

Q. Apj)roximately, how much land was involved in all? — A. I could not remember. 

Q. Not as much as a hundred acres? — A. I could not say; but I should think not 
more than a hundred. I believe there are some lands involved in town sites that 
might make a little additional acreage, and I am not sure that that has ever been 
corrected. 

(.1. When those corrections had been made and the lands marked, as you have 
stated, will you i)lease state whether the Commission and you yourself, as acting 
chairman or chairman of the Commission, in your official action treated those lands 
as having been actually segregated under the provisions of the act of 1902? 

(Que.stion objected to as immaterial.) 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So far as your personal knowledge is concerned, what report of your action 



MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. Ill 

■which you have just described was made to the Conuiiiv«sioner of Indian Affairs and 
the Secretary of the Interior? — A. I do not recollect anv report prior to the 20th of 
April, 1908.' 

Q. What, if any, direction or instruction was given to the Commission, of which 
you have any knowledjre, in respect of the segrejration of the Delaware lands and the 
methods according to wliich the se^neuration should he made by the Secretary of the 
Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs? — A. 1 believe \ve made some sort 
of a report in the fall of 1902 that possibly related to what we intended to do. In 
reply to that report we received a letter, <lated some time in November, from the 
Secretary of the Interior, aiijirovinur the report, and tiiat is all I can recollect about 
it. I have not refreshetl my memory on the sul)ject. 

Q. After the passatre of the act of July 1, 190L', state if you know of your personal 
knowledire of any directions or instructions sent to the Commission liy the Commis- 
sioner of Indian Affairs or the Secretary of the Interior in respect of the manner or 
time or method of se^rreyating the Delaware lands prior to the passage of the resolu- 
tion of which you spoke. — A. I do not recollect any instructions unless they might 
be said to be contained in this letter that I referred to that we received from tlie 
Department in reply to our rejiort upon a letter we received from Mr. Logan. 

Q. And other than that you recall nothing in the way of direction or instruction? — 
A. I recall nothing. 

Q. In your affidavit, referring to the report of April 20, 1903, you state, "that such 
corrected schedule was made without any intention of conforming to the laws relat- 
ing to the establishment of town sites, and without due regard for the interests of 
the Delaware Indians or other Indians of the Cherokee Nation." Do you mean to 
say that the corrected schedule was made without any intention to observe existing 
laws? — A. I meant to say just how it appeared to me and other members of the 
Commission at tliat time. 

Q. You knew of the existence of the laws relating to the establishment of town 
sites, and did you mean to say that those laws were intentionally disregarded? — A. 
They were disregarded. 

Q. Why? — A. I do not know. 

Q. And without due regard for the interests of the Delawares. What dot-s that 
mean? — A. Do you want an explanation of just exactly what my views were? It 
was our belief at that time that certain Delawares who were entitled to have their 
lands placed within that segregation had not had their lands listed in this schedule. 
Of course we did not know that at the time we put the lands on the plats. That 
transpired subsequently to our action in December, 1902. It came to our knowledge 
that certain Delawares claimed that their lands were not placed within the segre- 
gated lands or placed on the schedule, and that appeared to us to, be without due 
regard to their rights and claims. It also appeared to us that certain lands were 
placed on the lists that properly belonged to Cherokee citizens not Delawares. 

Q. Were those supposed mistakes taken by the Commission as invalidating the 
entire segregation? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Was there any difficulty in the way of making corrections in the segregation 
where what were considered mistakes had been made? — A. There would be a great 
deal of difficulty, of course, about it, because a great many Cherokee claim that 
their lands were taken in the Delaware segregation. 

Q. How many? — A. Al)out 300. I do not mean to say that their claims are all 
valid. I do not know, l>ut they swore to them. 

Q. Had those Cherokee made, to your knowledge, any definite claim in respect of 
those lands before the segregation? — A. Not that I know of. That is to say, they 
made no claim to us. 

Q. Have you any personal knowledge, or has the Commission, to your jiersonal 
knowledge, any knowledge as to the number of acres of land occupied or claimed to 
be occupied by these 300 Cherokee? — A. I have none. The records are in the 
Tahle(|uah land office, but 1 have not exannned them. 

Q. You have spoken of the Cherokee who claim lands that were segregated. 
What knowledge have yon of the claims of Delawares that were not included or ]iro- 
vided for in the segregated lands? — A. I have had letters from them and have talked 
with some. 

Q. Approximately, how many?— A. I do not suppose I have seen personally or 
had letters from more than a dozen. I am informed that there are about 50. 

Q. Is it not true that the jrreat body of the 157, (iOO acres that were marked by you 
in the way you have described and were segregated, as we claim, in the way you 
have described, is it not true that the great body of that segregation is entirely 
untouched by any claim or dispute by oi)posing claimant.^?— A. I could not say, 
because I do not know how many acres these Cherokee claimants claim. You see, 
the allotment to the Cherokee citizens varies in acreage from (50 to (500 acres. These 
claimants may claim only the minimum allotment. Tliey may claim the entire 
maximum allotment. I do not knt>w. 



112 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Q. Is it true that up to the present moment the Commission has not ascertained 
or taken any steps to ascertain the number of controverted acres that are inchided in 
the segregation? — A. The number of controverted acres would appear in the claims 
made by the Cherokee, which are all in the Cherokee land office. I have made no 
effort to ascertain just how many acres or who is claiming them. I do not know 
what Mr. Breckinridge has done. 

Q. You do not know of any existing lists of contestants or the amount of land they 
claim? — A. I do not know that any list of that kind is completed. 

Q. Do you know the status or predicament in respect of their rights in the tribe 
of these Delawares who were not provided for by the segregation? — A. No, sir; I 
have not investigated that question. 

Q. What, if any, action has Ijeen taken by the Commission, to your personal knowl- 
edge, in respect of those Delawares who were not included in the Delaware-Cherokee 
agreement and were admitted afterwards by an act of the council? — A. I do not know 
of any action that has been taken by the Commission. We have not made a roll of 
the Delawares. 

Q. Is there now existing in the records of the Commission a list or schedule of 
Delawares entitled to be considered and provided for under the segregation as directed 
to be made by the act of 1902? — A. No, sir; no schedule has been made of the 
Delawares. 

Q. Up to the present moment there is not existing in the Commission a schedule 
or list of Delawares entitled to the benefits of the act of 1902? — A. There is no sched- 
ule which would be such a schedule as we would submit to the Secretary of the Inte- 
rior for his approval. 

Q. He has never directed any such schedi;le to be made, and you have never 
reported such a schedule?— A. No, sir. 

Q. To-day it is unknown who are and who are not entitled to the benefits of that 
act? — A. I do not say. 

Q. I ask you whether that is not so? — A. ]\Iy only reply is that we have not passed 
on the claims of the Delawares and have made no schedules of Delaware citizens. 

Q. So far as the Commission is concerned, it is unascertained who are and who are 
not the Delawares entitled to the benefits of the act of 1902? — A. It is unascertained. 

Q. When, that is, at what time after the passage of the avt of July 1, 1902, did the 
Commission, to your personal knowledge, proceed to the allotment of lands to the 
Cherokee? — A. We opened the office the 1st of January and began allotments the 
4th of January, 1903. 

Q. Where was the office opened? — A. At A'inita. 

Q. How was it opened? — A. Notices were printed, and I think several thousand 
circulated throughout the Cherokee Nation, posted in post-offices and stores, and 
printed in the newspapers stating that the office would open on January 1, to remain 
at Vinita until the 30th of April, and would reopen on the 4th of May, I think it 
was, at Tahlequah, to remain indefiniteh', for the purpose of allotting lands to mem- 
bers of the Cherokee tribe. 

Q. Will you examine this paper and say if j^ou recognize that it is a copy of the 
said notice? — A. This seems to be substantially the notice as I recollect it. The sub- 
stantial facts are here stated. 

(The above-mentioned notice is here given in evidence by the solicitor for the 
complainants, and the same is filed herewith, marked " Bixby Exhibit No. 1.") 

Said notice is in the words and figures following, to wit: 

Bixby Exhibit No. 1. 

Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Muscogee, Ind. T., September's, 1902. 
Notice is hereby given that the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes will on 
January 1, 1903, at Vinita, Ind. T., estaltlish an office for the allotment of the lands 
of the Cherokee Nation to the citizens of that tribe in accordance with the provisions 
of the act of Congress approved July 1, 1902, entitled "An act to provide for the allot- 
ment of the lands of the Cherokee Nation, for the disposition of town sites therein, 
and for other jnirposes." 

Such office will be maintained at Vinita until April 30, 1903. 

Beginning May 4, 1903, the Connuission to the Five Civilized Tribes will establish 
an office at Tahlequah, Ind. T., for tiie allotment of the lands of the Cherokee Nation 
to the citizens of tliat tril)e in accordance with the act of Congress above referred to, 
such office to be continued indefinitely. 

Tams Bixby, Acthig Chairman, 
T. B. Needles, Com)nis.'noner, 
C. R. Brec'kixrid(;e, Commi.'isiover, 
Commmion to the Five Civilized Tribes. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 113 

Q. When was the office actually opened nnder that proclamation? — A. January 
1, 1903. 

Q. Were you there? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Under whose direction was it? — A. I expect it was under mine. 

Q. What was done jrenerally under the proclamation? — A. The first two or three 
da\s after opening the ofhce we distril)ut('d tickets to the crowd of pcii])k' in attend 
ance, giving them the right of admission to the land otlice, and on the 4th of January 
we began to allot the lands. People were permitted to enter the otiii-e and approach 
the citizenship or roll clerk and get a certificate; upon presentation of that certificate 
they were permitted to select allotments for themselves, members of their families, 
or others whom they might lawfully represent. 

Q. Will you describe a little more minutely the process — how the office was con- 
stituted, what the deiiartments were, and how the apjylicants came. — A. The office 
was constituted l)y the selet-tion of the chief clerk, who had charge of the entire 
business; under hiui was the roll clerk, who had charge of the rolls, and the allot- 
ment clerk, who had charge of the allotment office. I think there were in all about 
35 employees in that office. The method of selecting allotments is rather difficult tu 
describe, but the applicant proceeds about as follows: After getting his certificate 
from the roll clerk he is shown into the allotment office jn-oper. In the Cherokee 
office there are about 7 allotment clerks. The applicant is given a seat in front of 
one of the clerks at a desk and is asked a few preliminary (juestions to locate him in 
a general way; then the clerk goes to the records, and if the land asked for has been 
surveved by the Conunissiou the clerk produces what we call a scc'tional diagram, 
which shows the improvements, the cultivated fields, fences, houses, sheds, and liarns 
on that section and attempts to show who claims it. Sometimes the information as to 
that is not very reliable, because the surveyors would only find on the land, in some 
cases, tenants or renters, and occasionally these renters were somewhat misty as to 
who they really rented from and the information would not be entirely accurate, but 
the sectional diagram does show just what lands are under cultivation, etc. From 
that (iiagram or map, in connecti<jn with the statements that the applicant makes, 
the clerk attemi^ts to give him such lands as he desires, covering the improvements, 
if any, and the extent of the improvements, and giving him an allotment that will 
come within the average sum of the total allotment to which each Cherokee is en- 
titled, which is about §325 in round numbers, the lands ha\'ing been ajipraised at 
arbitrary figures reaching from 50 cents to S<i.50 an acre. This gives a Cherokee 
from 60 to 650 acres of land, according to its value. Then a blank is tilled out, which 
retpures answers to numerous questions as to the character of the land and improve- 
ments and the possession of the land and improvements, and the applicant is 
required to sign that under oath. Of course the work is quite technical and requires 
considerable time in each case, l)ecause of the fact that the Connnission can not take 
more than the average value of 110 acres and the applicants improvements must be 
protected and also because the applicant is permitted to select such lands as he 
desires, not necessarily in contiguous tracts. It may be much broken up, and conse- 
quently the allotment work is quite intricate and consumes considerable time in each 
case. 

Q. When the allotment is made what evidence does the apjilicant have of his 
right? — A. He gets none whatever at the time. In the course of time he gets a cer- 
tificate which describes the land by government subdivisions and also illu.>^trates it 
on the diagram on one end of the certificate. It is illustrated on the diagram so that 
the man may have some idea of how his land looks as well as having the (iovern- 
ment description, this frequently Iteing very lengthy and somewliat involved. Fre- 
quently rivers are drawn on these diagrams and lines of railroads. 

Q. AVho signs the certificates? — -A. I do, as chairman of the Commission. 

Q. It is dated and has your signature; has it any seal? — A. No, .sir. 

Q. Have you a copy of one of these certificate.^' — A. No, sir. 

Q. In substance what are they? — A. In the first place is the caption: "Depart- 
ment of the Interior. Commission to the Five Civilized Tril)es. Mnita or 
Tahlequah. Date of selection. This is to certify that John Doe has selected for 
allotment the following described lands," giving the descrijition of the lands and 
then stating that the certificate is not transferable. Signed: " The Connnission to 
the Five Civilized Tribes, Tams Bixby, chairman." On the other side is the 
diagram of which I spoke. 

Q. That is delivered to him when? — A. AVe were delivering certificates for lands 
selected in May at the time we were instructed to close the office. 1 would say that 
in all probability all the certificates would have been out by this time if we had not 
been stoi)pe<l. 

t^ Ujj to the time of the removal of the office to Tahle<|uah, about how many 
applications have bet^n filed by Cherokee? — A. I expect about 4,000. 

S. Doc. 16 8 



114 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Q. After the removal of tlie office to Tahlequah, how many were filed? — A. I think 
that we were receivino; afjout 1,250 a month. 

Q. Up to the present time, approximately, how many applications have been filed 
in all?— A. I shonld think abont 8,000. 

Q. The certificates to the applicants are prepared by the Commission, or nnder 
their direction, in the land office in the Territory, are they not? — A. Yes, sir. 

(}. Wliat disposition is made of them? — A. They are mailed to the applicant. 

{}. Do you reijuire a receijit? — A. No, sir. 

Q. The certificates themselves remain in the possession of the Commission until 
they are delivered or sent to the applicant? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They are not ap])roved by the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner 
of Indian Affairs by any formal act or indorsement on any paper or on the certificate 
itself? — A. No, sir.' 

Q. How manv certificates, aj^proximatclv, have V)een issued to Llierokee under 
this act of 1902?— A. 1 think in the neighborhood of 5,000. 

Q. Covering how much land? — A. I could not say. 

Q. Of course a record was kept in the Commission of certificates issued? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In wliat form? — A. In two ways. There is an elaborate stul) to each certificate, 
which is filled out so as to correspond exactly to the body of the certificate with the 
exception that the diagram is not made on the stub, and there is also a record kept 
in a book, which is a record of certificates issued, and in that record book is also 
shown when the certificates are made and the post-office address of the jiarty to whom 
they are made. Of course the certificate of an adult, the head of a family, goes to 
him direct, and the certificates for the lands of liis minor children and his wife are 
also mailed to him. This record book shows how the certificates are mailed. 

Q. The law pnwides for the issue of these certificates? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What further is reciuired after the issue of the certificates to complete the title 
of the person to whom the certificate is issued, according to the practice of tlie 
Commi.'^sion? — A. No deeds liave yet been issued to Cherokee allottees, but the 
Commission, under direction of the Secretary of the Interior, will prepare deeds 
for the allottees, to be submitted to the principal chief of the nation for his signature, 
and the deeds will, after having been approved by theSecretary, thereafter be delivered 
to the allottees, and the deeds will be recorded in the office of the Commission. 

Q. The certificates to which you have referred are then all outstanding and no 
action has been taken on them? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. They are now in the liands of the persons to whom they are issued ? A. So far 
as we know. 

Q. When and in what event is further action to be taken by the Commission in 
respect of those (-ertificates? — A. Those certificates which are already issued. No 
further action is necessary by the Commission in relation to them. 

Q. When and in what way are the patents prepared to be issued? — A. I conld only 
tell you, perhaps, how it is done in the C^reek Nation. 

Q. In res])ect to those certificates which are already issued? — A. There is no fur- 
ther proceeding contemplated, so far as the Commission is I'oncerned. 

Q. How does the j)erson to whom a certificate is issued get his patent? — A. If the 
practice is to be the same as in the Creek Nation, he will go to the principal chief, if 
the chief requires it. The deeds will be made out by us without reference to the 
certificate. 

Q. They will go from you where? — A. They go from us to the princii)al chief to 
be executed by him and returned to us; then by the Commission forwarded to the 
Secretary of the Interior for his approval; by the Secretary of the Interior returned 
to the Commission, and by the Commission sent to the principal chief for delivery. 
That is the method jMirsned in the Creek Nation. 

Q. In respect of the Cherokee, nothing of that sort lias yet been done? — A. No, 
sir; we are preparing now to get the blank deeds printed and have the record books 
made, but that is as far as we have gotten. No deeds will be issued in any case until 
after the expiration of nine months from the date of the selection of the land. 

Q. That time being fixed by the law? — A. That time being fixed by the law when 
it is supposed that tlie land becomes noncontestible. That is the limit of the contest 
period. 

Q. The proceedings of the Commi.ssion in respect of the issue of certificates were 
made, as I undt'rstand the matter, of record. Will you please state when and in 
what manner the proceedings of tiie Commission in respect of the issue of the certifi- 
cates were re})orted to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and to the Secretary of 
the Interior? — A. I could not recollect whether it was ever reported to the Commis- 
sioner and the Secretary. 

Q. Did the Commission make monthly reports of their doings to the Secretary of 
the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs? — A. Yes, sir. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 115 

Q. That has been their habit? — A. Yes; for the past two years, or thereabouts. 

Q. W(jul(l those reportvS inchule what they had done in respect of the issue nf cer- 
tificates? — A. 1 expect so. We intend to cover all material transactions, althoutrh, 
of course, it is quite possible that things which may be very material would not be 
reported. Some things that we have perhaps been in the haljit of doing might possi- 
bly be omitted, things tiiat were the practice of tlu' office l)efore we l)egan these 
reports. The idea of these monthly rej)orts is simply to give the Department an 
idea of the general transactions of tlie Commission. 

Q. What, in the course of business, was the action taken on these reports. Did 
they, or any reply, come back to the Commission in respect to them? — A. Generally, 
as I recollect, we would get a reply from the Secretary of the Interior or Acting Sec- 
retary, and sometimes the reply would say that the report was approved; sometimes 
it would sinii)ly say that the re])ort had been received and considered. 

(-1. The land office for the Cherokee was opened at what time? — A. January!, 1903. 

Q. At the time of the opening of the land office and the issue of the jiroclaniation 
to which you have referred, did you and the Connnission know of the i)endency and 
condition of the suit which is described in section 23 of the act of 1902? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they and you know that that suit had not been determined? — A. I knew, in 
a general way, that it had not been determined. 

Q. When were the Commission ready to begin the allotments to the Chero- 
kee? — A. About the time we issued this jiroclamation we were practically ready. 
At any rate we were ready by the time the land office opened. 

il. Did the Commission, when the land office was opened, proceed to make allot- 
ments l)ased upon the fact, or the suggested fact, that the segregation of the Dela- 
ware lands had been made? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Up to the time of the opening of the land office had there come from the Secre- 
tary of the Interior or the Commissioner of Indian Affairs any information, assertion, 
or objection, implying or indicating that the segregation of the Delaware lands had 
not been then perfected? — A. Not that I know of. 

Q. In acting as a member of the Commission, was your action and that of the 
Connnission, so far as you know, based upon the existence, or supposed existence, 
of power and authority in you to make the segregation. — A. Answering for myself, 
I can say yes, and in answering for the others, I suppose so. 

Q. ^Vhen did you first know and when did the Commission first know, so far as 
is within your personal knowledge, that it was claimed or asserted by the Secretary 
of the Interior that the Commission had no authority or right to make the segrega- 
tion except with the approval of the Secretary? — A. So far as my own knowledge is 
concerned, I will say that the first information I had to that effect was when I 
learned of the decision of .ludge Anderson, rendered in this case. 

il. Will you state, if you know of your own ])ersonal knowledge, whether the Sec- 
retary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs were kept advised of 
the ])roceedings of the Connnission in the allotment of lands in January, February, 
March, and April, 1903, and you may, if you please, refresh your recollection l)y 
referring to what purports to be a press copy of certain telegrams and letters men- 
tioned and referred to in the letter of the Acting Secretary to the Commissioner of 
Indian Affairs, dated April 29, 1903, now shown. 

(Object to tliis because it is not the best class of evidence. Certified copies should 
be submitted. ) 

A. I recollect the receipt of the telegrams and the reply sent by me, and I think 
this is substantially correct at least. 

(The above-mentioned letter is here-given in evidence by the solicitor for the com- 
plainants, and the same is filed herewith, marked "Bixby Exhibit Xo. 2.") 

Said letter is in the words and figures following, to wit: 

Bixby Exhibit No. 2. 

Dkp.vrtment of the Interior, 

Washington, April ^9, 1903. 
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 

Sir: You are advised that on the 27th instant 1 wired the Hon. Tams Bixl)yas fol- 
lows: "Suggest Commission, if practicable, delay removal of land office from Vinita 
until arrival of secretary at Muskogee, approximately May 7. He wishes to confer 
with you in regard to it." 

To 'which Mr. Bixby replied, same date: "Telegram of this date received. All 
arrangements made to keep Tahlequah appointment I\lay 1, information of which 
is widely disseminated. Extremely important to keej) this ai)pointinent in full- 
blood region and to press the work at this time among them. INIuch bettei- to return 



IIG MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

to western part of the nation at a later date if necessity therefor shall appear 
as work progresses. Any interruption now would greatly embarrass the Commis- 
sion, and the Government worse." 

On the 26th instant I wired Chairman Bixby as follows: "Referring to your tele- 
gram of yesterday, Dei)artment will not interfere in Tahlequah ajipointment." 

Concerning the foregoing, Commissioner Breckenridge wired me on the 27th 
instant: "I strongly concur in telegram of Chairman Bixby of this date as to 
importance of keeping promptly the Tahlequah appointment; perfectly easy to 
return to western part of nation at later date if we find it desirable to do so, as we 
hkely shall. 

Respectfully, Thos Ryan, Acting Secretary. 

I recollect that we sent the Department monthly reports during those months, and 
I presume that the transactions of the Cherokee land office were mentioned in those 
reports. 1 have not any doubt that they were. I could not recollect what those 
reports contained. Of course the reports themselves wouM be the best evidence. 

Q. After the action which you have described was taken by the Commission for 
the segi^egation of the Delaware lands, when was there any further action ]>y the 
Commission or any of the Commissioners in respect of any of the lands so segregated 
and which you refer to as having been set apart? — A. No action has been taken, that 
I recollect, exce]»t the corrections mentioned in the examination already. 

(The further taking of this deposition was thereupon adjourned until Saturday, 
October 24, at 9.30 o'oclock a. m., at the same place.) 

Washington, D. C, October 24, 1903— [).30 o'clock a. in. 
Met pursuant to adjournment. 

Present: Nathaniel Wilson, esq., solicitor for the complainants, and Richard C. 
Adams, esq., one of the complainants: AV. C. Pollock, esq., solicitor for the defendants. 
Whereupon the direct examination of Tams Bixby is continued. 

By Mr. Wilson: 

Q. After the corrections to which you have referred were made, and which were, 
I believe, completed in January, 1903, what, if any, action was taken by the Com- 
mission in respect of those lands, or any of them, by the receiving and filing of 
api^lications, and when was that action first taken? — A. In reply to the first jiart of 
your cjuestion, I can say that none whatever has been taken in respect of those lands 
since the corrections made in January. In reply to the latter part of your question, 
it might be said that applications have been received made by Cherokees other than 
Delawares for some of these lands, which applications have been placed in separate 
files in the office at Tahlequah. 

Q. How many such applications have been received, approximately? — A. I think 
about 300. 

Q. How were they presented; to whom and bj' what authority were they put on 
file among the i)apers of the Commission? — A. They were presented by the appli- 
cants themselves in the form of sworn testimony. They were received by the allotting 
clerks in the Tahlequah land office, and the clerks received them by authority of the 
Cominission. 

Q. Do you mean that the Commission directed them to be received by the clerks? — 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What noting on the records of the Commission was made of these applica- 
tions? — A. No notice whatever in the sense that other applications are put upon the 
records. The ordinary application, after having been received, is put in the regular 
files and the description of the land i>ut ujion the books opposite the name of the 
allottee, and as soon thereafter as the work of the office will permit certificate is 
issued. In the case of these applications for Delaware lands, the apiilication is 
simply received and put in files called the "hold-up" files, and the description of 
the land i)laced on sejmrate cards, if at all, and kept by themselves. 

Q. Did those applications, which I understand are under oath, state in any detail 
the nature of the claim of the applicant, and whether he had improvements on the 
land? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did the Commission, or any members of the (Commission give any directions as 
to what the application should or should not contain, and what would be retiuire<l of 
the api)licant? — A. Not in detail. They directed the chief clerk in a general way to 
accept an<l jdace in the " hold-up" files the application of any Cherokee citizen who 
claimed that lands that belonged to liim were taken in ttie Delaware segregation. 

Q. Did those applications include cases of lands claimed by the Cherokees inde- 
pendently of any allegation by them or claim by them as to actual occupation? — A. 
No, sir; I think not, so far as I know. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 117 

Q. What, if any, investigation into the facts set fortli in these applications have 
been made \)y the Commission? — A. Do you mean V)y that as to whether the Com- 
mission lias, either l)y itself or throufih any of its emi)loyees, actually jj:one onto the 
ground and ascertained whether the ai»plicant has told the truth or not? 80 far as I 
know, the Commission has not made any exhaustive examination of the facts set 
forth in these applications. Answering for myself, I had reason to believe, perhaps, 
that it was quite possible that these statements might be true, because they were 
made under oath and were as much entitled to be believed as any of the applications 
made in the Cherokee land office upon which allotments of land are made. 

Q. So far as you know, when, in what way, and by whose application was the 
question first raised before the Commission as to the tiling of any application with 
the Commission in res))ect of these segregated lands? — A. I have no recollection of 
who made the tirst application, and I do not think that 1 know the name of any 
Cherokee who did make an application. Of course I have known of certain instances, 
but have no recollection at this time of the names of any ap]ilicants. 

Q. Do you remember approximatel.v when and by whom the tirst application was 
made? — A. No, sir. I do not remember by whom it was made, but 1 recollect that 
some one made an application not long after the land office was opened. 

Q. Will you examine Exhibit No. 6 of the original bill in this case and state if you 
identify your signature thereto? — A. That looks very much like my signature. 

Q. Have you any doul)t whether you signed that letter? — A. I would not want to 
say whether I signed it or not. 

Q. Who coulci have signed it if you did not? Did anybody have authority to 
sign your name? — A. No, sir. 

(Original letter, which is attached to the bill as Exhibit No. 6, is offered in 
evidence. ) 

A. (Continued.) I want to say, in further explanation of my answer, that my sig- 
nature, as appears on that letter, was undoubtedly signed by my authorization, but 
was signed with a ruliber stamp. 

Q. Referring to this letter and to the application therein mentioned of Charles 
Parks, state if Parks was a Cherokee. — A. It is not stated that he was a Cherokee, 
but I presume that he was. He might be a Cherokee freedman. 

Q. State, if you know, whether this applicant was represented by Mr. Norwood. — 
A. No, sir; I could not state. 

Q. State, if you know, whether Mr. Norwood represented many of these appli- 
cants. — A. I have no information witii regard to the matter. I do not know wiio 
Mr. Norwood is or whether he represented any of these people or not. 

Q. The notice herein given to the person to whom it is addressed, as to appearance 
at the Cherokee land office at any time within nine months, was V)y the authority 
and direction of the Commission, was it not? — A. 1 do not recollect that the Com- 
mission ever passed any formal resolution, as a Commission, directing that anything 
of that kind be done. 

Q. It was done with their knowledge and approval, however, was it not? It was 
not the individual act of the acting chairman? — A. No, sir; it was not the individual 
act. Of course the Commissioner in charge does and performs a great many acts on 
behalf of the Commission, but without formal direction in the particular instance. 

Q. Your notification contemplated and intended to obtain an application to the 
Commission by the i^erson to wliom it was addressed? — A. The ])urj)ose of that notice 
is to advise the Delaware that some one had made application for the lands which 
he claimed to be living on or which he did live on. 

Q. Only in cases of applications such as you have mentioned were similar notices 
issued? — A. I could not say whether they were sent in all cases or not. There might 
have been other notices of a different nature sent, simply notifying the Delaware 
that a certain party had ap])lied for the land he claimed or \i])on which he lived. The 
purpose was simply to give him notice. I might say that we were perhaps rather 
groping in the dark as to just what would be necessary to be done finally in these 
matters, and in accepting ap])lications from Cherokee sim|)ly allowed them to prac- 
tically make a declaration of tiieir claims; and in endeavoring to advise the Dela- 
wares, on the other hand, some of the notices which were use(i in the ordinary run 
of business were sent to J)elawares. In some instances no notices may have been 
sent, and in some instances notices of a different character, but the whole purpose 
was to advise the Delaware that some one claimed the land which he claimed. 

Q. These particular notices contemplated a contest, diil they not? — A. It so states; 
but I will say that, if the decision of the court was not rendered before the expira- 
tion of the nine months, I liave no possible idea'that the Commission would have 
attempted to allot this land to the Cherokee making tlu' apiilication. In other words, 
we had intended to set these lands aside awaiting tlic liiial decision of the court, and 



118 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

only received the applications of Cherokee for these lands for the purpose of ascer- 
taining, in any way that might come within our notice, the rights of the different 
parties, in case it was made our duty tiually to determine said rights. 

Q. In reply to notices, what personal knowledge have you of applications made 
by the Delawares?— A. I have none. 

Q. Were there any filed, so far as you know? — A. I know nothing aljout it. 

Q. If there had been applications tiled in obedience to those notices, you would 
not know it? — A. I might and might not. Since the 1st of May Mr. Breckinridge 
has been in charge of the Cherokee office. When he is away I am in charge of it. 
Nothing of that kind has been brought to my attention. 

Q. Have you any personal knowledge or any official knowledge of what was actu- 
ally done in respect of going upon any of these lands, for which the Cherokee 
api)lied, by the Cherokee or any persons acting for them, after the applications were 
received? — A. None whatever, either personal or official. 

Q. Had you any personal knowledge or, so far as you know, had the Commission 
any information as to the Cherokee, or any of them, going upon the segregated 
Delaware lands after the segregation? — A. I have no personal knowledge and dO' 
not know anything about what the other Commissioners might know about it. 

Q. When were the last applications filed by the Cherokee, so far as you know, 
on the segregated lands? — A. I could not say. 

Q,. When was the last filed to your knowledge? — A. I have not any definite knowl- 
edge on the subject. 

Q. Was the tiling stopped at any time after it begun? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When? — A. It was stopped when the office shut up in June and it was stopped 
about the middle of July. 

Q. It was stopped an(A applications not allowed in June? — A. The whole office was 
closed in June. 

Q. When was the filing of applications resumed? — A. I think when the office 
opened. I have not taken any pains to find when these applications were made, 
when begun, or when stopped, except when we were directed to stop them, which I 
think was in July. 

Q. You know, as a matter of fact, that they were stopped? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When were they resumed? — A. AVhy, we resumed them for a few days, I pre- 
sume; at any rate the office was directed to accept them, after we were notified of 
denial of the application for a restraining order, and then, I believe, soon after that 
we got notice from the Secretary again to stop business, and then filing was stopped. 

Q. Do you rememl)er a public notice issued upon receiving information of the 
refusal of the court to grant the restraining order, and will you examine a paper I 
show you and see if it is a copy of the notice issued by the direction of the (Commis- 
sion? — A. I have no recollection of the Commission authorizing the giving of any 
such public notice. I do recollect that a resolution sul)stantially similar to the one 
here was adopted by the Comuussion. The giving of this public notice was an act, 
if my recollection serves me right, of Commissioner Breckinridge. 

(The above-mentioned notii'e is here given in evidence Ijy the solicitor for the 
complainants, and the same is filed herewith, marked " Bixby Exhibit, No. 3.") 

Said notice is in the words and figures following, to wit: 

Bixby Exhibit, No. 3. 
PUBLIC notice. 

This office having official information of the refusal by the supreme court. District 
of Columbia, of the injunction asked for relating to the application for allotment 1)y 
certain Cherokee citizens of lands embraced in the Delaware segregation and of the 
discharge of the temporary restraining order concerning the same, the following 
order of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes is again put into operation, viz: 

"That Cherokee citizens not of Delaware blood, occupying lands end)raced in the 
Delaware segregation, shall be permitted to make application for sucii lands, and any 
claimants may institute contest proceedings for the same, provided that all such 
ap|)lications and contests shall be held suspended pending the determination of the 
rights of claimants to such lands as pi'ovided in the (^herokee agreement ajiproved 
July 1, 1902. 

"C. R. BRECKlNHIlXiE, 

, " Commmioner in Charge Cherokee Land Office." 

w 

Q. As a matter of fa(;t such notice was given? — A. I have no knowledge of such a 
notice. 

i}. You have a knowledge of the resolution? — A. Yes, sir. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 110 

(2- W<1 you see any j)ublication of it? — A. No, sir. 

il. After that notire, when was the filing of applications suspended, ajiproxi- 
mately? — A. After that resolution, you mean. It was suspended wlieii we jrot tlie 
direction from the Secretary of the Interior. 

Q. When was that, apiiroximately? — A. Some time this month. 

Q. Between the date ui that resolution and tlie order ilirecting the Commission to 
receive no mure applications, how many api)lications were tiled by the Cherokee? — 
A. I do not know that any were received. 

Q. Have you any detinate information as to the nundjer of Cherokee applications 
now on tile? — A. Wluit sort of Cherokee ajtplications? 

<2. Cherokee applications for Delaware lands. — A. About 'AOO up to the present 
time. 

Q. Are applications from Cherokee for Cherokee lands outside of the 157, (K)0 acres 
still being received? — A. No, sir. 

(1- When were they stopped? — A. Cpon the receipt of the telegram from the Sec- 
retarv, just referred to. 

Q. "How many of those had been tiled up to that time?— A. About 10,000 or 12,000. 

Q. Upon those api)lications certificates liave been issued?. — A. No, sir; not upon 
all of them. I think, as I stated yesterday, that about 5,000 or 6,000 certificates have 
been issueil uj) to the present time. 

<2. Those certificates have all been issued based upon the fact, or the supposed 
fact, of the previous segregation of the Delaware lands? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. If any of the Cherokee ai»plications for Delaware lands which the Commission 
has allowed to be tiled should hereafter l)e decided in favor of the Cherokee appli- 
cant, where would the Delaware whose land was so taken go, and out of what lands 
could he ol)tain the number of acres to which he would be entitled? 

(Object to this question because it presupposes that the land belongs to the Dela- 
ware, whereas the fai-t is on a wrong premise. ) 

, A. The law of July 1, UK)2, in its general application, seems to protect tlie rights 
of Cherokee as well as Delawares. and Cherokee, in our judgment, are thought to 
have the right to the lands u]ion which they live, as well as may be said that Dela- 
wares iiave the right to the lands which they claim, and if it is found that lands 
belonging to Cherokee are within the Delaware segregation, and there should be an 
opportunity to determine the right of that proposition, I j)resume the Delaware 
would 1)6 obliged to look for lands upon the public domain, if he had no lands to 
which he was entitled by occupancy. Of course, it is not within the knowledge of 
the Connnission as to whether these applications of Cherokee would ever be any use 
to the Commission. The (juestion as to the final disposition of the 157, .^00 acres, it 
appears to me, depends in a great measure upon the determination of the Supreme ' 
Court in that case. 

Q. If the Delawares lose any portion of the 157,600 acres, they, under the law, are 
entitled to have that made uj) in some way, are they not? — A. I should think they 
were, if the court said so. 1 presume that is a legal (juestion. 

Q. \Vhere and out of what lands could they obtain an equivalent of lands which 
were disallowed? — A. There is suflicient land in the Cherokee Nation to give each 
Cherokee the value of 110 acres of average land, and also to provide 157,600 acres for 
the Delawares. 

Q. But the limits and acreage of selection, or for selection, have been lessened, 
have they not, by the certihcates that have already been issued to the Cherokee? — 
A. UndoubteiUy, to that extent; but that does not change the pro])osition that there 
is suflicient land for the Cherokee tribe and for the Delawares, including this 157, 6lK) 
acres. 

Q. Did not the Commission, in the administration of the law, act upon the sup- 
position, or the supi)Osed fact, that there should be no certifications to the Ciicrokee 
until then- had l)een an absolute anil complete segregation to the Delawan-s? — .\. 1 
should think that our action in the i)remises was a conq)leti' answer to that (juestion. 

Q. What is the action and what your understanding of the (piestion? — .\. The 
Connnission, as 1 exi)lained yestenlay, pa.«se<l a resolution authorizing the acting 
chairman to .«et asifle this 157,600 acres for the Delawares, which the acting chairman 
did, an<l which is still preserved intact. 

*l. What, if any, action has been taken by the Connnission up to the })resent time* 
based upon the incompleteness and want of linality of this segregation of the IVIa- 
ware land.s? — A. The Conmnssion ha« taken no action other than what 1 have stated. 

Q. Do you know anything of the (|uality of the 157,600 a<-res so segregated by the 
Commission? — .\. I only know that the lamls generally are in the best part of the 
Cherokee Nation. I know nothing of the jiarticular tracts. 

Q. Do you know generally in regard to the extent and character of tlu' improve- 
ments thereon? — A. I have no i)ers(»nal knowledge as to particular cases. I know 
that that section of the nation is well imjiroved. 



120 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Q. How would the present value of the^e lands compare with the value of lands 
that would still be open to the Delawares in case they were obliged to go elsewhere 
for the 157,600 acres of land to wliich they are entitled? — A. If the value was based 
exclusively U])on an agricuUural basis, I believe that the lands which they have 
selected would lie of greater value, but it is an open question in the nnnds of a great 
many people whether or not the lands in the rougher section of the Cherokee 
Nation are not as valuable or more valuable than the high grade agricultural lands. 

Q. For what reason? — A. Because of the possiI)ility of minerals. 

Q. Simply a speculative value? — A. It might be real as well. 

Q. Are those lands that would still be available for the Delawares, if they had to 
seek elsewhere, appraised by the Commission? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. At what rate? — A. The appraisement varies from 50 cents to ip6.50, and these 
lands, which appear on the surveys to be of small agricultural value, are appraised 
at the lowest figures, but the law expressly eliminates the mineral feature, and the 
lands may have been, even in our judgment, of higher value from a mineral standpoint 
and yet lieen appraised at a low rate. 

Q. Taking out and excluding the lands covered by the certificates already issued 
to the Cherokee, can you state the average appraised value of the remaining lands 
in the Cherokee Nation? — A. No, sir; nobody could witliout a great deal of compu- 
tation. 

Q. Could you state what would be the value of the remaining agricultural lands? — 
A. No, sir. 

Q. What has the Connnission api)raised? — A. Appraised all the lands for the pur- 
pose of distribution equally among the members of the tribe upon a value basis. 

Q. AVhat is the difference in the administration of the law by the Commission in 
respect of the acres that the Cherokee gets and the acres that the Delaware gets?— 
A. We were not administrating at all upon the acres that the Delaware gets. We 
were not alloting any lands to Delawares. 

Q. You have not done anything more than set apart these 157,600 acres? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Those are not average acres? — No, sir; they were set aside without i-egard to 
their appraised value, as agreed upon by Ijoth parties. 

Q. So that up to the present time the Connnission has not set apart to any Dela- 
ware any number of acres of land anywhere in the Indian Territory? — A. Not as a 
Delaware claiming lands within these 157,600 acres. We may have allowed a Dela- 
ware to select tentatively his |325 value outside of the segregation. 

Q. Has that been done? — A. I do not know, but the (.'ommission jiassed a resolu- 
tion to that effect. I do not know that any Delaware has applied to have any lands 
set aside to him in that way, but it may have been done. It would be outside of the 
segregation or the supposed segi'egation. 

Q. If there has been no segregation made and comideted of the Delaware lands, 
what is the jiresent predicament of the certilicates and the lands covered by certiti- 
cates already issued to the Cherokee? 

(Objected to as a question of law. ) 

A. That would be a question that would not be for me to answer. 

Q. Do you know, as a matter of fact, whether Cherokee have actually gone upon 
or are in jiossession of the lands for which tliey got certificates? — A. I have no knowl- 
edge whatever of a single instance of that kind. 

Cross-examination by Mr. Pollock: 

Q. You statethat apjilications ])y Cherokeeothertlian Delawares for lands embraced 
in the so-called segregation were received and placed in a special lile. Was the 
Cherokee applicant advised as to what rights lie obtained by tiling such applica- 
tion? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was he given to undcrstan<l he obtained by that? — A. He was given to 
understand that he obtained nothing, unless, perha])s, it might be considered that he 
had liled a declaration of his rights, and he was reijuired to sign a stipulation that he 
understood that this was not an allotment filing. 

Q. In answer to a question in direct examination you stated that up to the time 
the Cherokee land otlice was opened, .Tniuiary 1, 1903, yf)U had no knowledge of 
any objection or criticism on the jiart of the Secretary of the Interior of your action 
in making the i)uri)orted segregation. Had the Secretary received any otlit'ial ivjiort 
from you of your action at that time? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Was there, then, any chance for him to have made any olijection, or given any 
instructions, at tliat time in regard to it? — A. None l)ased on any rejwrt we had made. 

Q. No knowledge from you? — A. We had sent him no report as to what we had 
done. 

Q. Tiu' resolution was i)assed December 16? — .\. Tlie Kith i r 17th. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 121 

Q. And ynnr action as acting chainnan umler tliat was a few days later? — A. Within 
two or three days. 

Q. And tlien within ten or twelve (hiys the land otiice was opened? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Yesterday yon were asked if the (Jonnnission had taken any action toward mak- 
ing the segregation of the Delaware lands under the act of June 28, 18i»S, and you 
answered that it hail not. State what condition the work necessary to he done before 
any allotments could l)e made was in u]) to tliat time and up to July 1, 1902. — A. We 
were not ready to begin the allotment of lands under the Curtis Act. We were engaged 
in hearing applications for citizenshii) and in preparing the rolls and in determina- 
tion of citizenship cases, in surveying the lands and ascertaining the location of 
improvements, and in getting ready for the work of making allotments in the Chero- 
kee Nation. We had under considei'ation at divers times tlie claims of the Delawar&s 
and had some communications from their ri'presentative, hut were not in jjosition to 
begin the allotment of the lands of the Cherokee Nation, and did not get in position 
to do that until after the passage of the act of July 1, 1902. 

Q. Is it not true that i)rior to July 1, 1902, only the possessory right to the surface 
of the Cherokee Nation could be allotted to the members of that nation? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is it not true that prior to that time, or for a period of several years, negotia- 
tions had been held with the nation to secure the distribution of these land.s? — A. 
Yes, sir. We had repeatedly entered into negotiations with the Cherokee, some of 
these negotiations failing to be ratified by the Cherokee and some by Congress. 

Q. The fact that these negotiations were pending had a tendency to retard the 
work of the Connnission in tlie Cherokee Nation? — A. Y'es, sir. 

By Mr. Wilson: 

Q. What, if any, difficulty or obstacle existed immediately after the passage of the 
act of June 28, 1898, in the way or to prevent the segregation of the lands to the 
Delawares? — A. The difficulties that I have just stated made it at least luinecessary 
to segregate tlie lands at all until we were ready to begin allotment of some kind. 

Q. Would it have been just as easy to have proceeded with the segregation of the 
lands so far as the Delawares were concerned, innnediately after the passage of the 
act of June 28,1898, as it was when the segregation was made? — A. 8o far as the 
Delawares were concerned, yes, but not so far as the Conmiission was concerned, 
because we had none of our work, such as the preparation of plats, books of various 
sorts, stationery, and things of that kind ready for use. 

Q. At the time of the passage of the act of 1898, the land was sectionized by the 
Commission, was it not? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. So far as the Delaware segregation was concerned it was postponed then until 
the Commission got ready to proceed with the allotment to the Cherokees? — A. No; 
it was postponed until the Commission was ready to take up the Cherokee proposi- 
tion as a whole, including the Delaware. 

Q. Will you state, as accurately as you can, what kind of a paper the Cherokees 
were required to make or tile with their application for any of the Delaware segre- 
gated lands? — A. In the first jjlace, they made of their own volition a statement, 
under oath, of what their claims were, and then the Commission retpiired that they 
sign a stipulation, agreement, or whatever it maybe called, in which they stated, 
under theii- own signature, that they understood that this aiiplication gave "them no 
rights to the land as an allotment, and that it was not a formal allotment to them. 

Q. That was put on file with the application? — A. Yes, sir; in every case. 

Q. And that recpiirement was prescribed by the Commission? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. By any formal order? — A. 1 do not recollect. 

Q. Was any information or notice given to the Delawares of that reciuirement by 
the Commission? — A. I have no recollection of any. 

Q. Were they informed f)f the qualification that accompanied each application? — 
A. I have no recollection of any, hut they could easily have ascertained that by a 
visit to the land office tir by calling on the Comnnssion. 

il. Have yon any jjcrsonal knowledge of any api)lication for information in respect 
of the details and j)articulars of the applications made by the Cherokees? — \. I have 
no definite recollection. I have had some letters from Mr. Adams, which I have 
always endeavored to answer in detail and courteously, as soon as the matter could 
be reached. Mr. Adams sometimes asked for information that requiretl c<Misidera- 
ble work to procure and perhaps ndgld have bi'cn delayed, but we have never had 
any <lisposition not to furnish him with all information as to our proceedings. 

Q. Do you mean to have it understood, .Mr. P.ixby, that the Connnission, so far 
as you know, never made in any form any report to the Secretary of the Interior in 
which it appeared and was shown what action had lu-en taken by the Comnti.«sion 
in 7-espeft of the segregation of the Delaware lands? — A. I mean to say that so far as I 



122 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 



recollect the Commission never made any report for the identical purpose of report- 
ing upon the particular action of the Counnission in makin<; a segregation or setting 
aside those lands. It is possible that we reported in our monthly reports what we 
were doing in a general way, but as to making a report of that identical procedure 
I have no recollection of such a report. 

Q. Would you say, or wish to be understood as justifying, that the Secretary of the 
Interior was not olScially informed and did not otlicially know from the official com- 
munications of the Commission that the Commission had made the segregatiun of 
the Delaware lands? — A. I think I have answered that question as fully as I can in 
my previous answer just made. 

Exhibit 64. 

Lid of names of person>< v:ho have ftppUed for loud in tJie Cherokee Xation, which is 
induded within the Delmoare segregation. 

[In all cases the applicant has claimed that he is occupying the land applied for, or has valuable 

improvements upon the same.] 



Name and post-office. 



Description and date. 



Milton K. Thompson, Muscogee. 

Ind. T. 
Robert D. Blackstone, Muscogee, 

Ind. T. 

Sterling Colston, Vinita, Ind. T 

Jane Byrd, Chelsea, Ind. T 



Goldie J. Waller, Chelsea, Ind. T 

W'illiam T. H. Waller, Chelsea,, Ind. T. . 

George W. Waller, Chelsea., Ind. T 

Andrew C. Atkins, Bartlesville, Ind. T. 

Benjamin F. Brvant, Siloam Springs, 
Ark. 

Leona Bryant, Siloam Springs, .\rk 

Isaac H. Jordan. CoUinsville, Ind. T . . . 
Pleasant N. Blackstone, Muscogee, 

Ind. T. 
Robert T. Morrison, jr., Ochelata, 

Ind. T. 
Ellen C. Morrihon, Ochelata, Ind. T... 

Claud A. Morrison, Ochelata, Ind. T . . 
Tessie Bradford, Coffey ville, Kans 



Jennetta Bradford, Coffeyville, Kans.. 

Malissa Bradford, Coffeyville, Kans... 

Deatrus Bradford, Coffeyville, Kans... 

Harold D. Lannom, Bartlesville, Ind. T. 
Ruth E. Rogers, Chelsea, Ind. T 



Maude E. Rogers, Chelsea, Ind. T 

Seenie Brewer, care of Nan Porter, 
Muscogee, Ind. T. 
Do.. 

Douglas Porter, care of Nan Porter, 
Jluscogee, Ind. T. 

Willie Porter, care of Nan Porter, 
Muscogee, Ind. T. 

Edna Porter, care of Nan Porter, Mus- 
cogee, Ind. T. 

Jennie E. Williams, Miles, Ind. T 



Charles E. Kelciiuni, Vinita, Ind. T.. 
James S. Ketchuni, Vinita, Ind. T... 
Clarence R. Ketchum, Vinita, Ind. T. 
Joseph B. Ketchum, Vinita, Ind. T.. 
Ella L. Spickerman, Talala, Ind. T... 



Allotment SW. i NE.i,SE.i NE.i, N. i NW. J-, SE. i NW. i, 
N. i, SW. i NW. i, SE. i SW. i NW. \ of 22-22-22. Jan. 5, 1903. 
SW.-i, W. i SE. i of 22-22-22. Jan. .5, 1903. 

E. i of 21-22-22; SW. i SW. \ NW i of 22-22-22. Jan. 5, 1903. 

E. i NE. i NW. i of 32-24-lZ; E. i NW. i N W. i of 32-24-17; W^ i, 

NE. i NW. i of 32-24-17. Jan. 5. 1903. 
S. i SW^ i NW. i, N W. i S W. i NW. i of 21-24-17. Jan. 6. 1903. 
S. i SE. i NW. i, SE. i SW. i NW. i of 20-24-17. Jan. 6, 1903. 
SW. i SW. i NW. i of 20-24-17. Jan. 6, 1903. 
SW. i N W. i SE. i, SW. i N W. i NE. i, W, a SW. k NE. i of 25- 

2(1-12. Jan. 0, 1903. 
E. i SE. i NE. i of 20-23-19. Jan. 8, 1903. 

W. i SE. i NE. i of 20-23-19. Jan. 8, 1903. 

SW. 10.09 acres of lot 4 of 18-2.5-13. Jan. 9, 1903. 

NE. i SE. i, SE. i SE. i, of 22-22-22. Jan. 10, 1903. 

W. A SE. i SE. i, E. i SE. i- SE. i, of 17-2.5-13. SE. i NE. \ SE. 

i, of 18-25-13. Jan. 12, 1903. 
SW. i NW. i, SE. i NW. i NW. i, W^ i NW. i NW. J, NE. i NW. 

i NW. i, of 16-2.5-13. Jan. 12. 1903. 
NE. i NE. i SE. i, of 18-2,5-13. Jan. 12, 1903. 
SW. A NE. i, less 3.08 acres M., K. and O. R. R. right of wav; 

NW. i SE. i NE. i, E. i SE. i NE. i, less 1.54 acres M., K. arid 

O.R.R. right of wav; SW. i SE. i NE. J, less 1.54 acres M., K. 

and O. R. R. right of wav, of 20-29-15. Jan. 13, 1903. 
NW. i SE. i, NW. i SW. i SE. i, E. i SW. \ SE. i, SW. \ SW. i 

SE. i. of 20-29-15. Jan. 13. 1903. 
NW. i NE. i, SW. i NE. i NE. i, E. i NE. i NE. \. NW. i NE. i 

NE. i, of 20-29-15. Jan. 13, 1903. 
NE. i SE. i, NE. i SE. { SE. {, of 20-29-15. W. i SE. iSE. i, SE. 

i SE. i SE. \. of 20-29-15. Jan. 13, 1903. 
SW. i NW. i of 13-26-12. Jan. 14, 1903. 
NE. i SW. i SE. i, NW. i SW. i SE. i, S. i SW'. \ SE. \ of 9-26- 

15. Jan. 14, 1903. 
NW. i SE. i SE. i, S. \ SE. A SE. i, NE. \ SE. \ SE. \, of 9-26-15. 

Jan. 14, 1903. 
SW. i N.E. i NE. i, N. i NE. i NE. i, SE. i NE. \ NE. i of 20- 

29-15. Jan. 13, 1903. 
SE. A NE. A, less 3.08 acres M., K. and O. R. R. right of wav, 

of 20-29-15. Jan. 13, 1903. 
SW. A NE. A, less 3.08 acres M., K. and O. R. R. right of way, of 

20-29-15. Jan. 13. 1903. 
NE. A SE. A, NW. A SE. A SE. a, S. i SE. a SE. i, NE. a SE. a SE a 

of 20-29-15. Jan. 13. 1903. 
NW. A SE. A, NW. A SW. A SE. a, E. a SW. a SE. a, SW. iSW. a 

SE. A, of 20-29-15. Jan. 13, 1903. 
NW. A NW. A, NW^ A SW. A NW. a, NE. a NW. a, of 23-26-19. 

Jan. 16, 1903. 
SE. 10 acres lot 3. NE. a sW. a, W'. 19.80 acres lot 3, NE. 10 acres 

lot 3, of 7-27-20. Jan. 16, 1903. 
S. E. 10 acres lot 4, SE. a SW. a, w. 19.93 acres lot 4, NE. 10 

acres lot 4, of 7-27-20. ■ Jan. 16, 1903. 
NE. 10 acres lot 2. lot 1, W. 19.91 acres lot 2. SE. 10 acres lot 2. 

of 18-27-20. Jan. 16, 1903. 
SW. A NE. A NE. A, SE. A NE. h N. i NE. a NE. \, SE. a NE. i 

NE. A, of 13-27-19. Jan. 16, 1903. 
SE. ■ NW. A SE. A, NE. A SE. a, N. a SW. a SE. \. SW. I SW. a 

SE. 1, SE. A ,SW. A SE. A, SE. A SE. a, of 24-24-15. Jan. 10, 1903. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 



123 



List of names of persons who hare appllrd for land in tlie Cherolwe Nation, wJtich 'u< 
included. v:ithiu the Delanxire segregation — Continued. 



Name and post-nffieo. 



Hellen J. Spickerman, Talala, Ind.T. 

William Glenn Spickerman, Talala, 

Ind. T. 
Henry H. Byrd, Chelsea. Ind. T 



Lucy Daniels. Bartlesville, Ind. T. 
Amos W. Lord, Tulsa, Ind. T 



Samuel S. Foreman, Tahlequah, Ind. T. 

Minnie O. Foreman, Tahlequah, Ind.T. 
Alice Tidwell. Ballard, Ind. T ... 



Robert G. Tidwell. Ballard. Iiid. T.. 

Allen H. Gibson, Pawhuska, Okla .. 

Cliarles D. Hawkins, Vinita, Ind. T. 
William C. Hampton, Whiteoak, Ind.T 

Flora Smith. Tulsa, Ind. T 

David Smith, Tulsa. Ind. T 

Gladys Smith, Tulsa, Ind. T 

Xeel V Smith, Tulsa. Ind. T 

Martha M. Smith. Whiteoak. Ind. T 
William P. Ross, Tahlequah, Ind. T 

Josie M. Carr, Bartlesvijle, Ind. T... 

James L. McCoy, Bartlesville, Ind. T 

Annie E. John.son, Dewey, Ind. T.. 

Edward G. Ross, Tahlequah, Ind. T 

William Humphrey, Vinita, Ind. T 

Sarah Humphrey, Kinnison, Ind. T 

Watt Cochran, Stilwell, Ind. T 



Description and date. 



Charles Parks, Bartlesville, Ind. T 
Martha S. Parks, Bartlesville, Ind. T 

Anna Thornton, Bartlesville, Ind. T . 



Wm. L. Thornton, Bartlesville, Ind. T. 



Catherine Henry, Chelsea, Ind. T. 
Leroy Hurd, Whiteoak, Ind. T 



James F. Hurd. Whiteoak, Ind. T . . . 

Harris R. Gourd, .\lluwe, Ind. T 

Charles C. R. Gourd, Alluwe. lud. T 

John I. Hawkins, Vinita. Ind. T 

Samuel B. Severs, Muscogee, Ind. T 

Emma Severs, Muscog-ee, Ind. T 

Charles J. Severs, Muscogm-, Inil. T . . 

John Harvey, Whitfoak. Ind. T 



Belle Kevs. Bartlesville, Ind.T 

Pearl Keys, Bartlesville, Ind.T 

Walter roriuicle, Catale, Ind.T 

Thomas C. Cormicle, Catale, Ind. T . 



Lincoln R. Cormicle, Catale, Ind. T . 

Sallie Taylor, Chel.sea, Ind. T 

William Keeler, Bartlesville, Ind. T 



SW. A NE. i NE. i, SE. } XE. \. N. i NE. \ NE. i, SE. } NE. f 

NE. \. of 2.1-21-15. Jan. 16. 191)3. 
SW. J N\V. i NE. i. SW. { NE. |, N. i NW. } NE. i, SE. J NW. J 

NE. i. of 2o-24-l.i. Jan. Ki, 1903. 
N. i NW. i SW. {. SE. A NW. i SW. J, SW. i SW. \ NW. i, SW. { 

NW. i SW. i. of 32-24-17. Jan. 20. 1903. 
SW. i NW. i. of 13-2.T-12. Jan. 2(;, 1903. 
NW. I SE. i. SW. i NIC. i SE. {. S. J SW. J NE. J, SE. i SE. \ 

NW. \. of 19-21-13. Jan. 28, 1903. 
NE. i SK. i NW. i. NW. i SE. i NW. J, S. \ SE. i NW\ \. of 30- 

21-13. Jan. 30. 1903. 
SE. 10 acres lot 2, SW. 9.91 acres lot 2, of 30-21-13. Jan. 30, 1903. 
NE. i NW. }, NW. i SE. i NW. i, S. i SE. i NW. J. NE. \ SE. J- 

NW. i. of 14-28-19. Jan. 30. 1903. 
NW. i N W. i, NW. i SW. i N W. i, S. 4 SW. { NW. i. NE. J SW'. i 

NW. i. of 14-28-19. Jan. 31, 1903. 
NE. A SE. i SW. i, SE. \ SE, i SW. i, W. i SE. i SW. {, of 6-27-13. 

Feb. 2. 1903. 
NE. i NE. i of 2.V24-2I. Feb. 4, 1903. 
N. i NW. i SW. i, N. A NW. A SE. i, N. i NE. i SW. i, of 29-25-19. 

Feb. 5. 1903. 
NW. i SE. i, SW. i NE. i SE. \. E. 4 NE. i SE. \, NW. \ NE. I 

SE. A. of 2-21-12. Feb. 6. 1903. 
SW. A SE. A. NW. A SE. A SE. a, E. a SE. a SE. a, SW. a SE. a 

SE. A. of 2-21-12. Feb. 6, 1903. 
SE. A SW. A. less 2.48 acres St. L. and S. F. R. R. right of wav, 

of 28-20-13. Feb. 6, 1903. 
NE. A SW. A of 28-20-13. Feb. C. 1903. 
N. A NE. A SE. A of .T-24-19. Feb. 6, 1903. 
SE. A SW. A, s. A NE. A SW. A. NW. a NE. a sW. a, NW. a SE. a, 

NE. A NE. A SW. A. of •)-2.T-13. Feb. 7. 1903. 
SE. A SE. A. SE. A SW. A SE. a, NE. a S\V . a SE. a, W. a SW.- a 

SE. A. of 25-27-12. Feb. 7, 1903. 
NW. A NW. A, XW. A SW. A NW. A, NE. a NW. a. of 32-20-13. 

Feb. 9. 1903. 
SE. A NW. A SE. A. SW. A SE. a. NE. a NW. a SE. a, W. a NW. a 

SE. A. of 30-27-13. Feb. 9, 1903. 
SE. A NW. A 8W. A, NE. A SW. a SW. a, of 9-2-5-13. W. a SW. a 

SW. A. SE. A SW. A SW. A, of 9-25-13. Feb. 7, 1903. 
NW. A SE. A SE. A, E. \ SW. A SE. a, of 3-28-19. E. a sE. a SE. a, 

SW. A SE. A SE. A of 3-28-19. Feb. 7, 1903. 
NE. A SW. A. NW. A SE. A SW. a, E. a SE. a SW. a, SW. a SE. i 

SW. A. of 3-28-19. Feb. 10. 1903. 
NE. A 3\v. i, less 1.86 acres M. K. and O. R. R. right of way. of 

21-27-13. Feb. 12, 1903. 
N. \ SE. A of 14-2.5-12. Feb. 12, 1903. 
W. A SW. A SE. A, of 24-26-12; NW. i NW. a NE. a, of 25-26-12. 

Feb. 12, 1903. 
SE. 10 acres lot 2, SW. a sE. a NW. a, NW. a NE. a SW. a, nE. 

10 acres lot 3, NW. 10.-59 acres lot 3. less 3..57 acres K. O. C. 

and S. R. R. right of wav: SW. 10 .59 acres lot 3, less 2.4.S acres 

K. O. C. and S. R. R. right of wav: SE. 10 acres lot 3, less 1.21 

acres K. O. C. and S. R. R. right of wav: SW. a NE. a SW. a, 

of :W-2G-13. Feb. 13, 1903. 
W. A SW. A SE. A, E. A SE. A SW. A, SW. a SE. a SW^ a, lot 4, less 

4.28 acres K. O. C. and S. R. R. right of wav; NW'. a SE. a SW. a, 

of 30-26-13. Feb. 13, 1903. 
N. A SE. A NW. A, SW. A SE. A NW' . a, of 21-2.5-17. Feb. 14, 1903. 
SW. ; NE. A, SW. A NW. A NE. a. N. i NW. a NE. a. SE. } NW. i 

NE. A. of 32-2.5-19. Feb. 14. 1903. 
N. A NW. A SE. A, N. A NE. a SW. a, of 32-2.5-19. Feb. 14, 1903. 
S. A NE. A SE. A, of 20-2.5-17. Feb. 10, 1903. 
S. 4 NW. A SW. A of 21-2.5217; Fi'b. 16, 1903. 
S. i NE. A SE. A. of 1.V24-21; NE. a NE. \. of 22-24-21. Feb. 17, 1903. 
SW. A SE. A NW. A of 28-22-19. Feb. 19, 1903. 
SE. A SW. A of 21-22-19. Feb. 19, 1903. 
E. A NE. A NW. A, N. J SE. a NW'.-a, SE. a SE. i NW. a, W. i NE. 

A NW. A of 28-22-19. Feb. 19. 1903. 
NE. i SE. A NE. A lot 1, NW. a SE. a NE. \, of 1-24-18. Feb. 20, 

1903. 

Feb. 24, 1903. 
Feb. 24, 1903. 

. NW. A NE. ;. of 12-24-18. Feb. 26, 19t»3. 
less 0.94 acre St. L. and S. F. R. R. right of 
Feb. 26. 1903. 



Lot 4 of 19-26-13. 
Lot 3 of 19-26-1:!. 
NW. A NE. A NE. 
SW. A NE. A NE. 
wav. of 12-24-18. 



E. i NE. A NE. J, less 3.75 acres St. L. and S. F. R. R. right of 

wav, of 12-21-18. Feb. 26. 1903. 
SW. } SE. A, NW. A SE. A SE. J, E. i SE. J SE. }, SW. \ SE. J SE. 

A, of 27-24-17. Feb. 26, 1903. 
SE. i NW. 1 of 36-27-12. Feb. 26, 1903. 



124 



MEMOEIAL OF THE DEL AWAKE INDIANS. 



List of names of persons who have applied for land in the Cherokee N'atioit, vjJiich is 
included ivithin the Delaware segregation — Continued. 



Name and post-office. 



Descriptiou and date. 



Homer Billingslea, Vinita, Ind. T 

Philetus L. A. Reed, Bartlesville, Ind. T 
Ala M. Reed, Bartlesville, Ir.d. T 

Alice L. V. Reed, Bartlesville, Ind. T. . . 

Linna I. Reed, Bartlesville, Ind. T 

Nancy A. Reed, Bartlesville, Ind. T 

Joel Suagee, Bartlesville, Ind. T 

Dovie Suagee, Bartlesville, Ind. T 

Evaline Suagee, Bartlesville, Ind. T . . . 

Floyd Suagee, Bartlesville, Ind. T 

David Suagee, Bartlesville, Ind. T 

Barney Davis, Bartlesville, Ind. T 

Mary Davis, Bartlesville, Ind. T 

Thomas Pox, Catale, Ind. T 

George W. Eaton, Claremore, Ind. T.. 
Jennie O. Morton, Ramona, Ind. T . . . 
Eva J. Brown, Coffey vilie, Kans 



Jaseph Ann Hall, Vinita. Ind. T 

Mary Seullawl, Bartle.sville, Ind. T.. 



William Seullawl, Bartlesville, Ind. T. 

Richard Seullawl, Bartlesville, Ind. T. 
Jesse Reese, Vinita, Ind. T 

Joseph Nelson Robinson, Chelsea, 

Ind. T. 
Valentine W. Needham, Lawton, 

Ind. T. 

Allie A. Needham, Lawton, Ind. T 

Flora B. Thompson, Vinita, Ind. T . . . 

Perry H. Beeson, Fairland, Ind. T 

Perry H. Beeson, Fairland, Ind. T 

William A. Carr, Bartlesville, Ind. T . . . 

William I. Brewer, Eagle, Ind. T 

Abraham Locust, Stil well, Ind. T 

Ross Locust, Stilwell, Ind. T 

Luke Locust, Stilwell, Ind. T 

Mae Evelyn Hall, Vinita, Ind. T 

Susan Swan, Foyil, Ind. T 

James M. Trout, Big Cabin, Ind. T 

William L. Harlin, Whiteoak, Ind.T .. 

WilliarnG. Williams, Whiteoak, Ind. T. 
Albert V. McGhee, Kinni.son, Ind. T. . . 

Edna J. Trout, Big Cabin, Ind. T 

Jessie Brewer, Eagle, Ind. T 

Johnson Waters, Braggs, Ind. T 

Sarah Waters, Braggs, Ind. T 

Tom Waters, Braggs, Ind. T 

Nellie Waters, Braggs, Ind. T 



SW. i NE. A NW. i, SE. i NW. i, N. i NE. i NW. i, SE. i NE. 

i NW. i, of 9-23-19. Mar. 3, 1903. 
SE. i SW. i, SW. i NE. i SW. i, NW. i NE. i SW. i, of 27-29- 

13. Mar. 4, 1903. 
SE. i NE. i. SW. i NE. i NE. i, N. i NE. | NE. i, SE. i NE. i 

NE. i, of 33-29-13; NE. i NW. i SE. i, of 28-29-13. Mar. 4, 

1903. 
SW. i NW. i, SE. i NW. i NW. i, N. i NW. i NW. i, SW. i NW. i 

N W. i, of 34-29-13. Mar. 4, 1903. 
NE. i SE. i, NW. i SE. i SE. i, S. i SE. i SE. i, NE. i SE. i SE. i, 

of 28-29-13. Mar. 4, 1903. 
NW.i SW.i, NE.i SW.i SW.i, S.i SW.i SW.i, NW.i SW. i 

SW. i, of 27-29-13. Mar. 4, 1903. 
S. h SW. i NE. i, N W. i N W. i SE. i, S. i N W. i SE. i, NE. J NW. i 

SE. i, of 31-2(5-13. NE. i SE. i N W. i, of 32-26-13. Mar. 4, 1903. 
NW.i SW.i, of 32-26-13. SW. i NE. ^ SE. i, N.i NE. i SE. i, 

SE. i NE. i SE. i, of 31-26-13. Mar. 4, 1903. 
S. i SE. i NW. i, NW. i NE. i SW. i, of 32-26-13. S. i NE. i SW. i, 

NE. i NE. i SW. i, of 32-26-13. Mar. 4, 1903. 
SE.i SE.i NE. i, of 31-26-13. S. i SW.i NW.i, NW.i SE. J- 

NW. i, NE. i SW. i NW. i, of 32-26-13. Mar, 4, 1903. 
N. i SE. i NE. i. SW. i SE. i NE. J, N. i SW. i NE. i, NE. i SE. J 

NW.i, of 31-26-13. Mar. 4, 1903. 
N. i NE. i NE. i of 25-27-13. Mar. 4, 1903. 
NE. i SE. i SE. i, SE. i SE. i SE. i, W. i SE. i SE. i, of 24-27-13. 

E. 20 acres lot 4, SW. 6.82 acres lot 4, of 19-27-14. Mar. 4, 

1903. 
Lot 6, lot 7, less 0.61 acre St. L. and S. F. R. R. right of wav, 

of 6-24-19. Mar. 5, 1903. 
W. i SE. i NE. i of 1-26-12. Mar. 5, 1903. 
NW. i SE. i NW. i of 1-26-12. Mar. .5, 1903. 
NE. i NE. A, NE. i SE. i NE. h NW. i NE. i, of 29-29-1-5. Mar. 

6, 1903. 
NE. i NW. i Of 36-27-12. Mar. 6, 1903. 
SW. 10.03 acres lot 2, SE. 10 acres lot 2, NW. 10.03 acres lot 3, 

E. 20 acres lot 3, SW. 10.U6 acres lot 3, of 18-25-13. Mar. 6, 

1903. 
E. i SE. i NW. i, SW. i SE. i NW. i, NW. i NE. i SW. i. NW. 

10.02 acres lot 2, NE. 10 acres lot 2, NW. i SE. i NW. i, of 

18-2,5-13. Mar. 6, 1903. 
NE. i NE. i SW. i, SW. i NE. i SW. i, of 18-25-13. Mar. 6, 1903. 
SW. i NE. i SW. i, NW. i SW. i, E. 4 NE. i SW. i, NW. i NE. i 

SW. i, of 4-24-19. Mar. 9, 1903. 
NE. i NE. i of 34-25-16. Mar. 9, 1903. 

SW. i NE. i, SE. 10 acres lot 2. SW. 10 acres lot 2, N. 20.96 

acres lot 2, of 4-27-13. Mar. 13, 1903. 
NW. i SE. i of 4-27-13. Mar. 13, 1903. 
NW. i NW. i, less 1.29 acres M. K. and T. R. R. right of wav, 

of 36-24-19. Mar. 13, 1903. 
N. i NW. i, SE. i NW, i, N, i SW. i NW. i, SE. i SW. i NW. i, 

of 22-22-22. Mar. 14, 1903. 
SW. i SW. i NW. i of 22-22-22. Mar. 14, 1903. 
NW. i SE.i, SW,i NE.i SE. i, E. 4 NE. i SE. i, NW. i NE. i 

SE. i of 25-27-12. Mar. 14, 1903. 
SW. i NW. i, NW. i SE. i NW. i, S, i SE, i NW, i, NE. i SE. i 

NW. i of 26-28-19. Mar. 14, 1903. 
SW. i NE. i, SW. i NW. i NE. i, N. h NW. i NE. a, SE. i NW. i- 

NE. i of 18-27-16. Mar. 16, 1903. 
NW. i SE. i, SW. A NE. A SE. a, N. * NE. a SE. a, SE. a NE. a 

SE. A of 18-27-16. Mar. 16, 1903. 
SE. A NE, A SE, A NE, a NE, I, N, i NE, a NE, a, sW, a NE, a 

NE, A of 18-27-16, Mar, 16, 1903. 
SE. A SW. A of 25-27-12. Mar. 7, 1903. 
NW. A SW. A NE. A of 27-24-17. Mar. 18, 1903. 
SW. 7.97 acres lot 2 of 30-24-20. Mar. 18, 1903. 
SE. A NW. A NW. A, W. A NE. a NW. a, SE. a NE. a NW. a, W. a 

NW. A NW. A, NE. A NW. A NW. a of 32-2.5-19. Mar. 18, 1903. 
W. A SW. A SW. A of 29-25-19. Mar. 19, 1903. 
NW. A SE. A NW. A, S. A SE. A NW. a, NE. a SE. a NW. a of 

7-28-20. Mar. 19, 1903. 
SE. A NW. A, SW. A NE. A NW. a, N. i NE. a NW. a, SE. a NE. a 

NW. A of 31-24-20. Mar. 19, 1903. 
NW. A SW. A, SW. A NE. A SW. 1, NW. a NE. a SW. a, E. a NE. a 

SW. A of 26-28-19. Mar. 21, 1903. 
S. h NW. A NE. A of 13-27-12. Mar. 21. 1903. 
SW. A NE. A of 13-27-12. Mar. 21, 1903. 
SW. I SE. A, SE. A SE. A SW. A, N. i SE. a SW. a, SW. i SE. a SW. 

A of 12-27-12, Mar. 21, 1903. 
NE. A NW. A, NE. A SE. i NW. a of 13-27-12; SW. a SW. a, SE. 

A NE. A SW. A of 12-27-12. Mar. 21, 1903. 



MEMOKIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 



125 



List of names of persons icJto have applied for laud in the Cherokee Nation, vhich is 
inclnded viihin the Delaicare segregation — Continued. 



Name and post-office. 



Lydia Waters, Braggs, Ind. T . 



Florence Smith, Fairland, Ind. T . . 
Othie A. Smith, Fairland, Ind. T .. 
Tom Wolfe, Maysville, Ark 



Bear Scnllawl, Dawson, Ind. T. 
Daisy D. Byrd, Chelsea, Ind. T. 



Description and date. 



Frances Martin, Catale, Ind. T 

Fred Martin, Catale, Ind. T 

Eliza Martin, Catale, Ind. T 

Andrew H. Norwood, Dewey, Ind. T. 



Fred Keeler. Bartlesville, Ind. T... 

Maud E. Coker, Claremore, Ind. T . 

Losson Winkler, Tyro, Kans 

Annie B. Winkler, Wann, Ind. T. . . 



Mary Violet Winkler, Wann, Ind. T.. 

Nancy Sam, Stilwell, Ind. T 

Levi Sam, Stilwell, Ind. T 

Susan Shaw, Caney, Kans 



James Shaw, Canev, Kans 

Lillie Clark. Chelsea, Ind. T 

.lohn Hilderbrand, Braggs, Ind.T. 



Katie Hilderbrand, Braggs, Ind. T... 
Winnie M. Scott, Vmita, Ind. T 



Velma D. Scott, Vinita, Ind. T.. 

Colonel Griggs, Caney. Kans 

Frank Griggs, Caney, Kans 

Abbic Hawkins, Vinita, Ind. T . 



Frances Patterson, Caney, Kans 



York A. Patterson, Caney, Kans 

James Cochran, Stilwell, Ind. T 

Sallie Cochran, Stilwell, Ind. T 

Nora E. Sarcoxie. Bartlesville, Ind. T. 

Roy L. Sarco.xie, Bartlesville, Ind. T. . . 

Alex. Proctor, Spavinaw, Ind. T 

Thomas Proctor, Spavinaw, Ind.T 

Osa Martin, Chelsea, Ind.T 



William H. H. Sendder, jr., Chelsea, 

Ind.T. 
Gretchen J. Merrell, Big Cabin, Ind. T. 

Susie McKnight.Alluwc, Ind.T 

George I.. McKnight, Alhnve, Ind. T. .. 

James E. Milam. Clu'lseM. Ind.T 

William G. Milam, Clu'lsca, Ind.T 

Lizzie Lenowisha, Dewey, Ind. T 



Silas Longbone, Dewey, Ind. T 

Roy Longbone, Dewey, Ind. T 

Jesse Longbone, Dewey, Ind. T 



N. i NW. i NE. \ of 13-27-12; S. h NW. \ SE. i, SW. \ SE. \ 

SE. i. N. i SE. J SE. i, SE. a SE. i SE. i of 12-27-12. Mar. 

21, 1903. 
SW. i SE. \ NE. i of 22-22-22. Mar. 2.5, 1903. 
N. i SE. i NE. i, SK. \ SE. i NE. i of 22-22-22. Mar. 25, 1903. 
SW. i NW. i NE. J, N. i NW. i NE. i, SE. J NW. J NE. J of 

7-26-23. Mar. 26, 1903. 
SW. i SW. i. XW. i SE. i SW. i, SW. i SE. i SW. J, E. \ SE. i 

SW. i of 31-20-13. Mar. 27. 1903. 
E. i SE. } NW. i. SW. i SE. i NW. J, NW. i SE. i NW. J, E. \ 

SW. i NW. I of 32-24-17. Mar. 27, 1903. 
NW. i SE. i, SW. i SE. i of 1-24-18-. Mar. 28, 1903. 
SW. i SW. i. SE. i SW. i of 22-25-18. Mar. 28, 1903. 
SE. i NW. i SW. i, NE. i SW. |, N. i NW. \ SW. }, SW. i NW. \ 

SW. i of 22-2.5-18. Mar. 2<s. 1903. 
NW. i NW. i SW. i, S. i NW. i SW. i, NE. \ NW. i SW. i of 

21-27-13; N. k SW. i NW. i less 0.67 acre M., K. and O. R. R. 

right of way; SW. i SW. j NW. i of 2S-27-13. Mar. 31, 1903. 
S. i NE. i NW. A, N. i SE. A NW. a, NK. 10 acres lot 2 of 19- 

26-13. Mar. 31. 1903. 
SE. A SE. A of 33-28-14. Apr. 1, 1903. 
SE. A NE. A SE. A of 5-28-14. Apr. 2, 1903. 
NW. A NW. A. SE. A, SW. A NE. a, SE. a NW. a NE. a, SW. a 

NW. A NE. A, N. A NW. A NE. a of 9-28-14. Apr. 2, 1903. 
W. A SE. A NE. A, S. A NE. A NE. a, N. a NE. a NE. a of 9-28-14. 

Apr. 2, 1903. 
NW. A NE. A, SW. A NE. A NE. a, n. a NE. a NE. a, SE. a NE. a 

NE. A of 22-24-13. Apr. 3, 1903. 
SW. A NE. A, NW. A SE. A NE. a, S. a SE. a NE. a, NE. a SE. a 

NE. A of 22-24-13. Apr. 3. 1903. 
NE. A NW. A, N. A SE. A NW. a, SE. a SE. a NW. a of 10-28-13. 

Apr. 3, 1903. 
NW. ANE. A, N. ASW. ANE. Aof 10-28-13. Apr. 3, 1903. 
SE. A NW. A. SW. A NE. A NW. a, N. a NE. a NW. a, SE. a NE. a 

NW. A of 33-25-17. Apr. 6, 1903. 
S. A SE. A SE. A of 13-27-12; NE. a NE. i NE. a, E. a NW. a NE. 

A, W. A NE. A NE. A, SE. A NE. a NE. a of 24-27-12. Apr. 6, 

1903. 
W. A NW. A NE. A, W. A SW. A NE. a, NE. a SW. a NE. a of 24- 

27-12. Apr. 6, 1903. 
W. A SW. A SE. A, NE. A SE. A SW. a, s. a sE. a sW. a, NW. a 

SE. A SW. A of 22-24-21. Apr. 7, 1903. 
S. A SW. A SW. A, NE. A SW. A SW. A of 22-24-21. Apr. 7. 1903. 
S. 20 acres lot 2, N. 19.02 acres lot 2 of 4-28-13. Apr. 7, 1903. 
S. 20 acres lot 1. N. 19.17 acres lot 1 of 4-28-13. Apr. 7, 1903. 
NW. A SE. A, NE. A NE. a sW. a, w. a nE. a SW. a. SE. a NE. a 

SW. A of 1.5-24-21. Apr. 8, 1903. 
NE. A SE. A SW. A. SW. A SE. a SW. a, NW. a SE. a SW. a, SW. a 

NE. A SW. A of 3-28-13. Apr. 8, 1903. 
N. A NE. A SW. A, SE. A NE. a SW. a of 3-28-13. Apr. 8, 1903. 
NW. A SW. A of 4-28-13; N. a nE. a SE. a, SE. a NE. a SE. a of 

5-28-13. Apr. 10, 1903. 
SE. A NW. A SE. A, SW. A NE. a SE. \. W. a sE. '. SE. a. N. a 

NW. A SE. A, SW. A NW. A SE. a of 5-28-13. Apr. 10. 1903. 
N. A NE. A SW. A, S. A SE. A NW. a, NE. a SE. } NW. a, k. i 

SW. A NW. A, NW. A SE. A NW. a of 10-2.5-13. Apr. 11. 1903. 
NW. A SW. A, SE. A NE. A SW. a, SW. a NE. a ,^\v. i, NW. a 

SE. A SW. A, NE. A SW. A SW. A, of 10-25-13. Ai)r. 11. 1903. 
W. A SE. A SE. A, NE. A SE. a sE. a. SE I NE. i SE. >.. W. i 

NE. A SE. A. NE. A NE. j SE. a, of 17-2:^19. Apr. 11, 1903. 
N. A NE. A NE. A, of 20-23-19; SE. a SE. a SE. i, of 17-23-19. 

Apr. 11, 1903. 
SW. A SE. A. SW. A SE. A SE. A, N. a sE. a SE. i, SE. a SE. { SE. 

of 22-2.5-13. Apr. 13, 1903. 
SW. 9.79 acres lot 4. of 30-2.3-16; NW. 9.01 acres lot 4, E. 20 

acres lot 4, of 30-23-16. Apr. 15, 1903. 
NE. A NE. A NW. A loss 2.11 acres M., K. and T. R. R. right of 

wav of 19-24-20. Apr. 13. 1903. ■ 
N. i SW. A SE. A, SE. A SW. A SE. a, of 3.5-25-16; SW. a .mW. a 

SE. A of 3.V2.5-16. Apr. 16. 1903. 
SW. A NW. A SE. A, of 3.5-2.5-16. Apr. 16. 1903. 
E. ! SE. A SW. A, of 28-2.5-17. Apr. 16. 1903. 
NW. A SE. A SW. A, of 28-2.5-17. Apr. 16, 1903. 
NE. A NE. A less 0.78 acre K. O. C. and S. R. R. right of wav: 

NW. A SE. A NE. J. E. ASE. a NE. a, SW. a SE. { NE. a of 

11-27-13. Apr. 17, 1903. 
E. 20 acres lot 1, NW. a nE. a nW. a, of 30-25-14; W. 19.65 

acres lot 1, of 30-2r>-14. Apr. 17, 1903. 
SW. A NE. i NW. ■, N. i SE. J NW. a, SE. i SE. J NW i, E. i 

NE A NW. i of 30-2.5-14. Apr. 17. 1903. 
E. 20 acres lot 2: SW. a sE. a nW. {: W. 19.77 acres lot 2, of 

30-25-14. Apr. 17, 1903. 



12G 



MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 



List of names of persmis who have applied for land in the Cherokee Nation, vhich is 
indudsd ^nthin the Delaware segregation — Continued. 



Name and post-office. 



Description and date. 



Mary Wilson, Dewey, Ind. T... 

Minnie Wilson, Dewey, Ind. T. 

Charles Wil.son, Dewey, Ind. T 

Lillie Wilson, Dewey, Ind. T... 

Joseph Powell, Dewey, Ind. T.. 

Maud Beck, Siloam Springs. Ark.. 

Vivia Beck, Siloam Springs, Ark.. 

Lucian Beck, Siloam Springs, Ark 
Macy Beck, Siloam Springs, Ark . . 

Newton Trout, Spavinaw, Ind. T.. 
Jesse Martin, Ramona, Ind. T 

Penn Phillips, Vinita. Ind. T 

Callie Getup, Ramona, Ind. T 



William Clark, jr., Ramona, Ind. T 



Bettie Woodall. Vinita, Ind. T.. 

Malinda Secondine, care Robert Har- 
vey, Whiteoak, Ind. T. 

Harrison Secondine, care Robert Har- 
vey, Whiteoak, Ind. T. 

Marv E. Sears, nee Bennett, Bartles- 
viile, Ind. T. 

Thomas M. Patterson, .Afton, Ind. T . . 

Virgil V. Patterson, Afton, Ind. T 

Austaphine C. Kinnison, Kinnison, 
Ind T. 

Daniel W. Freeman. Fairland, Ind. T. 

Jennie Buford, Vinita, Ind. T 

Johnson Buford, Vinita, Ind. T 



Walter Buford, Vinita, Ind. T 

Benjamin O. Treuman, Cherokee Citv, 
Ark. 

Nelson Landrnm, Vinita, Ind. T 

Margaret Landrnm, Vinita, Ind. T... 
Margaret Landrnm, \'inita. Ind. T... 

John Laudrum, Vinita, Ind. T 

John Landrnm, Vinita, Ind. T 

Jim Landrum, jr., Vinita, Ind. T 

Do 

Barbara Landrum, Vinita, Ind. T 

Margaret Landrum, Vinita, Ind. T 

Barbara Landrum, Vinita, Ind.T 

Nelson Landrnm, Vinita, Ind.T 

Menerva Jones, Dewey, Ind. T 

Beulah M. Lyman, Dewey, Ind. T 

Savola R. Lyman, Dewey, Ind. T 

Ethel G. Jones, Dewey, Ind. T 

Ruth T. Brady, Tulsi\, Ind. T 

Francis B. Fite, Muskogee, Ind. T 

Cleo B. Statham, Bartlesville, Ind. T. . 



Elizabeth Vann, Vinita, Ind. T 

Ada Caywood, formerly Ada Fore- 
man, Vinita, Ind. T. 

Do 

Elizabeth Vann, Vinita, Ind. T 

Sam Shell, Stilwell. Ind. T 

Charlie Shell, Stilwell, Ind. T 

Sunday White, Stilwell. Ind. T 



NW. 



SW. 



SW. i NW. i, SE. i NW. A NW. i, N. k NW. 

NW. { NW. \, of 12-27-13. Apr. 17, 1903. 
NE. i NW. i NW. i, of 17-27-14; S. i NW. i SW. i, NW. i 

NW. i SW. i, N. i SW. i SW. i, of 8-27-14. Apr. 17, 1903. 
S. i NE. i SW. i, NW. i SE. A SW. i, E. i SE. | SW. i, of 8-27-14; 

NE. i NE. i NW. i of 17-27-14. Apr. 17, 1903. 
NW. i NE. i NW. i of 17-27-14; SW. \ SE. j SW. i, S. a SW. i 

SW. i of 8-27-14. Apr. 17, 1903. 
N. 4 SW. i SE. i of 7-27-14; NW. J NW. \ SW. i, of 12-27-13. 

Apr. 17, 1903. 
E. i SW. i SE. i, NW. i SW. i SE. i, NE. i SE. i SW. i, SW. i 

NE. i SW. i, NW. i SE. i SW. i, of 5-28-13. Apr. 17, 1903. 
S. 20 acres lot 4, NW, 8.92 acres lot 3, N. 17.50 acres lot 4, of 

5-28-13. Apr. 17, 1903. 
NE. 8.92 acres lot 3, of 5-28-13. Apr. 17, 1903. 
N. i NE. i SW. i, SE. i NE. J SW. i, S. 20 acres lot 3, of .5-28-13. 

Apr. 17, 1903. 
S. i SE. i NW. i of 30-24-20. Apr. 18, 1903. 
SW. i NE. i, SW. i SE. i NE. i, SE. i NW. i NE. i, N. i SE. i 

NE. i, SE. i SE. i NE. i, of 22-25-13. Apr. IS, 1903. 
Lot 2, SE. 10 acres lot 1, NE. 10 acres lot 1, W. 19.61 acres lot 1, 

of 31-21-13. Apr. 18, 1903. 
E. i SW. i SW. i, SE. i NW. i SW. i, SW. \ SE. i NW. \. N. i 

SE. i NW. i, SE. i SE. i NW. i, of 16-27-13. Apr. 20, 1903. 
SW. i NE. i SW. i, SE. i SW. i, N. i NE. i SW. i, SE. i NE. i 

SW. i, of 16-27-13. Apr. 20, 1903. 
W. i NE. i SE. A, NW. i SE. i SE. i, of 17-24-21. Apr. 20, 1903. 
NE. i NE. i of 8-24-19; NW. i SW. i SW. i, SW. i SW. i SW. i 

of 4-24-19; SE. i SE. i, of 5-24-19. Apr. 22, 1903. 
SW. i NW. i, SE. i NW. i NW. J, N. i NW. \ NW. i, SW. i NW. \ 

NW. i of 9-24-19; SE. \ SW. ], SW. i, of 4-24-19. Apr. 22, 1903. 
NW. i SE. i NW. i, N. i NW. J NE. J, SW. \ NW. i NE. i, of 

31-26-13. Apr. 23, 1903. 
E. 20 acres lot 2 of 7-24-16. Apr. 24, 1903. 
W. 16.78 acres lot 2 of 7-24-16. Apr. 24, 1903. 
SW. 9.30 acres lot 2 of 7-28-20. Apr. 24, 1903. 

NE. i of 21-22-22. Apr. 24, 1903. 

N. i NE. i NE. i of 28-2.5-20. Apr. 28, 1903. 

S. h NE. i NE. i less 0.06 acre M. K. and T. R. R. rightof wav; 

S". i SW. i NE. i, NE. i SW. i NE. i, of 28-2.5-20. .\pr. 28, 1903. 
NW. i NE. i. NW. i SW. i NE. i, of 28-2.5-20. Apr. 28, 1903. 
NW. i SE. i SE. i, NE. i SE. i, S. \ SE. i SE. i, NE. i SE. i SE. 

i, of 26-28-19. Apr. 30, 1903. 
SW^ i NW. i SE. i, SE. i NW. i SE. i, of 5-28-13. Apr. 24, 1903. 
W. i SE. i SE. i, SW. i, NE. i SE. \. of 5-28-13. Apr. 24, 1903. 
N. i NE. i SE. i, SE. i NE. i SE. i of .5-28-13. Apr. 24, 1903. 
NW. 8.92 acres lot 3 of .5-28-13. Apr. 24, 1903. 
NE. 8.92 acres lot 3 of .5-28-13, Apr. 24, 1903. 
S. 20 acres lot 4, N. 17..50 acres lot 4, of .5-28-13. Apr. 24, 1903. 
N. i NW. i SE. i of 5-28-13. Apr. 24, 1903. 
S. 20 acres lot 3 of 5-28-13. Apr. 24, 1903. 
E. i SE. i SE. i of 5-28-13. Apr. 24, 1903. 
SW. 10 acres lot 3, E. 19.44 acres lot 3, less 3.78 acres K. O. C. 

and S. R. R. right of wav, of 4-28-13. Apr. 24, 1903. 
NW. 9.44 acres lot 3 of 4-28-13. Apr. 24, 1903. 
S. i SW. i SE. i, NE. i SW. i SE. \ of 26-27-13; N. i NW. \ 

NE. i, S. i NW. i NE. i, of 3.5-27-13. May 5, 1903. 
SE. i NW. i, SW. i NE. i NW. i, SE. i NE". i NW. \, N. * NE. 

A NW. i, of 36-27-13. Mav 5, 1903. 
SW. A NW. i, SE. A NW. i NW a. NE. a NW. a NW. a, W. i NW. 

A NW. A, of 36-27-13. Mav 5, 1903. 
SE. A NE. A NE. A, NE. a NE. a NE. a, W. a NE. a NE. a of 35- 

27-13. May 5, 1903. 
NW. A NW. A NE. A of 25-20-12. Mav 7, 1903. 
N. A NE. A NE. A of 29-22-19. May 6, 1903. 
SW. A SW. A NE. A, less .18 acre K. O. C. and S. R. R. right of 

wav, SE. A SW. A NE. J, S. 4 SE. a NE. a, of 36-26-12. Mav 7, 

1903. 
SE. 10 acres lot 3, less 2.21 acres K. O. C. and S. R. R. right of 

wav, of 4-2.8-13. May 7. 1903. 
SW. io acres lot 3, NE. 9.44 acres lot 3. less 1..57 acres K. O. C. 

and S. R. R. right of wav. of 4-28-13. Mav 7, 1903. 
NW. 9.44 acres lot 3 of 4-28-13. Mav 7, 1903. 
E. A NE. A SW. A, less 4..59 acres K. 6. C. and S. R. R. right of 

wav, W. ! NE i SW. A, of 4-28-15. Mav 7, 1903. 
N. A iSTE. A NW. A of 36-24-12; SE. a SE. a SW. a, NE. a SW. a, 

NE. A SE. A SW. A of 2,5-24-12. May 6, 1903. 
W. A SE. A SW. A of 2.5-24-12. May 6, 1903. 
S. A NE. A NW. A, N. A SE. A NW. a, SW. a SE. a NW. a, of 36- 

24-12. Mav 6, 1903. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 



127 



List of names of perxons who hare a}yplied for land in the Cherokee XoHon, vhich is 
included uithin the iJelavare segregation — Continued. 



Name and post-oflBce. 



Description and date. 



•George White, Stilwell, Ind. T 

William L. Cowart. Nowata, Iiid. T... 

George W. Poplin, Adair, Ind. T 

Lcttie Brown, formerly Lettie Mul- 

drow, Okoeo, Ind. T. 
Howard Brown, Okoec, Ind. T 

Julia -V. Ivey, Sallisaw, Ind. T 

William P. Ringo, Nowata, Ind. T 

Norris Ruddles. Catoosa, Ind. T 

Julia Gilstrap, Bartlesville, Ind. T 

Jennie Gilstrap, Bartlesville, Ind. T. . . 
Andy R. Nave, jr., Tahlequah, Ind. T. 



George F. Nave, Tahlequah, Ind. T 



Joanna G. Nave. Tahle(iuali, Ind. T... 

Simon MoKinzev, Prvorcreek, Ind. T. 

Mike Fields, Tahlequah, Ind. T 

William Wood, Tahlequah, Ind. T.... 



Nannie L. Dudley, Still well, Ind, T... 

Charles W. Willey, Fort Gibson, Ind. T. 
Jananna Willev, nee Sanders, Fort 

Gibson, Ind. t. 
Milo J. Willev, FortGib.son, Ind.T ... 
Myrtle Willev, Fort Gibson, Ind.T.... 

Rachel Clav, Vinita, Ind. T 

Charley Welch, Bartlesville, Ind. T . . . 



Jesse Welch, Bartlesville, Ind.T 

Henry Eiffert, Fort Gibson, Ind. T . . . 
Henrv Eiffert, jr.. Fort Gibson. Ind.T 
Sallv M. Eiffert, Fort Gibson, Ind.T.. 



Minnie B. Armstrong, Bartlesville, 

Ind.T. 
John H. Hilderbrand. jr., Braggs, 

Ind.T. 
Susan L. Reed, Bartlesville, Ind. T 

Joseph A. Bartles, Dewey, Ind. T 

Susie J. Hick.s, nee Goodwin, Caney, 

Kans. 
Richard L. Hammett, Claremore, 

Ind.T. 
Jennie Daugherty. Stilwell, Ind.T... 

James M. Hamilton, Dcwcy, Ind.T... 



Hugh M. Hamilton, Dewey, Ind. T 

Clarence W. Hamilton, Dewey, Ind. T. 



James P. Fuller, Fort Gilison, Ind. T. 
Ro.*)!! L. Fuller, Fort Gibson. Ind. T.. 
James S. Fuller, Fort Gibson, Ind.T. 
John Jim, care of Thomas W. Triplctt, 
Tahlequah, Ind. T. 



SE. i SE. i NW. i of 3fi-24-T2. May 6, 1903. 

N. J S. 4 NW. i, of 32-2G-l(!. May 12. 1903. 

E. i NE. 1 SW. i of 27-23-19. April :;0, 1916. 

NE. i NW. i, NE. i SE. i NW. I i<. i SE. i NW. {, NW. J SE. i 

NW. i, of 22-2.T-13. Mav 9, 1903. 
SE. i SW. 1, SE. i NE. i SW. >. N. i NE. i SW. i, SW. J NE. ', 

SW. 1. of 22-2.T-13. Mav 9, 1903. 
SE. i SE. i NE. i. N. i SE. i NE. i. SW. J SE. J NE. i, of 24-27- 

12. Mav 13. 1903. 
SW. \ SE. i N W. i, E. 20 acres lot 2, E. 20 acres lot 1 less .,=>3 acre 

K. O. C. and S. R. R. right of wav, SE. i SE. J NW. i, of 31- 

26-13. Mav 14, 1903. 
SE. i SW. i NW. i of iS-27-13. Mav 14, 1903. 
NW. i NW. i le.ss SM acres M. K. and O. R. R. right of way, 

of 28-27-13: NW. 11.13 a (res lot 2, E, 20 acres lot 2, SW. 11.12 

acres lot 2, of 18-27-13. Mav l.=S 1903. 
S. 21 20 acres lot 1, S. i NE. i NW. J. NE. i SE. i NW. I S. j 

SE. i NW. i, NW. i SE. i NW. J, of 18-27-13. May 15, 1903. 
NE. i SW. A less 3.05 acres K. and .\. V. R. R. right of wav, 

NE. i SE. i SW. i. W. 4 SE. i SW. i less 2.73 acres K. and A. V. 

R. R. right ol wav, SE. i SE. i SW. i. of 18-27-l(). May 16, 

1903. 
SE. T -^^^'- i less 3.05 acres K. and A. V. R. R. right of way, 

SW. i NE. i NW. i le.ss l.hS acres K. and A. V. R. R. right of 

wav, N. i NE. i NW. i less 1..52 acres K. and A. V. R. R. right 

of wav, SE. i NE. i NW. I of 18-27-16. May 16, 1903. 
SW. i siE. i. NW. i SE. i SE i, S. k SE. i SE. i, NE. a SE. i SE. 

i, of 18-27-16. Mav 16, 1903. 
SW. i NW. i of 22-22-19. Mav 16, 1903. 
SE. i NE. i of 31-16-20. May 16, 1903. 
N. h NW. i SE. \ less 1.25 acres re.servedf or cemetery, of 31-17- 

22, W. 25 acres lot 2 less 0.92 acre O. and C. C. R. R. right of 

■wav of 5-16-22. Mav 16, 1903. 
N. i SW. i SW. i, S. i NW. i SW I, S. i SW. i SW. I of 28-26-16. 

Mav .16. 1903. 
E. i NE. i NW. i. S\y. i NW. A NE. i, of 36-16-19. May 18, 1903. 
NW. A NW. A NE. A of 36-16-19. May 18, 1903. 

NE. 10 acres lot 1 of 36-16-19. May 18, 1903, 

NW. A NE. A NW. A of 36-16-19. Mav 18, 1903. 

NE. A SW. A of 20-25-13. Mav 18. 1903. 

NW. A NE. A NE. A, NE. a NW. a NE. a, SE. a NE. i N 

SE. A NE. A, SW. A NE. A NE. a, S. i NW. a NE. a, of 

Mav 20, 1903. 
S. i SE. A NE. A, E. A SW. A NE. J, W. a SW. a NE. a, of 35-27-12. 

Mav 20, 1903. 
NE. A SW. A. NW. A SE. A SW. a, of 30-16-20. Mav 20, 1903.- 
NW. A SE. A of 30-16-20. Mav 20, 1903. 
S. h SW. A SE. A, NE. A SW. A SE. a. NE. a NE. a SE. a, SW. a SE.a. 

NE."A, N. A NW. A SE. A, SE. a NW. a sE. a, NW. a NE. a SE. 4, 

of 1-15-19. Mav 20, 1903. 
W. A SE. A NE. A of 1-26-12. May 21, 1903. 

E. A SE. A SE. A of .5-28-13. May 22, 1903. 

NW. A NW. A SE. A, S. A NW. A SE. i, NE. J SW. a SE. a. NW. a 

SW. A SE. A, S. A SW. A SE. A. of 28-29-13. Mav 25, 1903. 
NW. A NW. A NW. A, less 0.46 acre M., K. and O. R. R. right of 

way. of 28-27-13. June 1, 1903. 
E. A NE. A SW. A, NW. A NW. a SE. J, S. i NW. a SE. a. NE. a 

NW. A SE. A, of 27-29-13. Jnlv 3, 1903. 
S. k SE. A NW. A, NE. A SE, a NW. a, NW. a SE. a NW. a, NE. 

A NW. A, of 32-22-16. Jnlv 6, 1903. 
S. i NE. A NW. A, N. A SE. A NW. J, SW. a SE. a N.W a, of 

3(i-24-12, Julv7, 1903. 
NW. A NW. ; NW. A, SW. A NW. a, le.ss 2.19 acres M., K. and O. 

R. R. right of wav and less 3.66 acres K. O. C. and S. R. R. 

right of wav, SW. a N W. a NW. a, E. J N W. a N W. a, of 32-27-13. 

Julv 7, 1903. 
SE. ; NWi, less 0.5S acre K. O. C. and S. R. R. right of way 

and le.ss 1.74 acres M., K. and O. R. R. right of way, of 

32-27-13. Julv 7, 1903. 
WJ NE. A NW. A, less 0.58 acre M.. K. and O. R. R. right of way 

and less 1.84 acres K. O. C. and S. R. R. right of way, SE. a 

NW. A SE. A, N. i SW. A SE. A. N. i NW. a SE. >, SW. i NW. i 

SE. A, of 32-27-13. Jnlv 7, 1903. 
SW. 10 acres lot 1 of 1-15-19. July 10, 1903. 
SW. A NE. i, S. 20 acres lot 2 of 1-1.5-19. Jnlv 10, 1903. 
NE. A SE. A SW. A, NW. 1 SW. A SE. J, of 1-1.5-19. Jnlv 10, i;m3. 
NW. A SE. A, SW. A NE. A SE. J, N. i NE. J SE. J, SE. * NE. a 

SE. A, of 31-25-13. July 10, 1903. 



NE. A, N. i 
35-27-12. 



128 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 



Ltd of names of persons who have applied for land in the CJierokee Nation, which is 
included witldn the Delaware segregation — Continued. 



Name and post-office. 



Description and date. 



Charles Jim, care of Thomas W. Trip- 

lett, Tahlequah, Ind. T. 
Phillip Jim, care of Thomas W. Trip- 

lett, Tahlequah, Ind. T. 
Winnie Jim, eare of Thomas W. Trip- 

lett, Tahlequah, Ind. T. 

Reese Mose, care of Thomas W. Trip- 
let!, Tahlequah, Ind. T. 

Thomas Mose, care of Thomas \V. Trip- 
lett, Tahlequah, Ind. T. 

Edith Dixon, Welch, Ind, T 

Beulah G. Dancer, Collinsville, Ind. T . 
James Jackson, Oglesby. Ind. T 

Mary Cochran, Tahlequah, Ind. T 

Mamie Bovls, Tahlequah, Ind. T 

Nancv E. Berd, Fort Gibson, Ind. T.. 
Harold B. Berd, Fort Gibson, Ind. T . 

William Davis, Fort Gibson, Ind. T.. 

Do 

Mary Cochran, Stilwell, Ind. T 

Ellen Lynch, Fort Gib.son, Ind. T 

Thomas Daniels, Dewey, Ind. T 

Frank Daniels, Dewey, Ind. T 

Josie Farel Parsons, Collinsville, Ind. T 
Jeta Fields, Tahlequah, Ind. T 

Jacob Padget, Stilwell, Ind. T 

James S. Davenport, Vinita, Ind. T .. 

Cynthia J. Wickliff, Vinita, Ind, T . . . 

Eliza J. Rogers, Dewey, Ind. T 

William G. Rogers, Dewey, Ind. T . . . 

Lillie Rogers, Dewey, Ind. T 

Arthur M. Rogers, Dewey, Ind. T 

Charles A. Knipe, Bartlesvllle, Ind. T 

Lila Knipe, Bartlesvllle, Ind. T 

Kellie Knipe, Bartlesvllle, Ind.T 

Lila Knipe, Bartlesvllle, Ind. T 

William Johnstone, Bartlesvllle, 
Ind,T. 



Nellie V. 
Ind.T. 



Jolmstone, Bartlesvllle, 



Mina Beck, Bartlesvllle, Ind. T 

Annie McNair, n(Je Spvbuck, Sperry, 
Ind.T. 



SW. i SE. i, SW. i SE. i SE. i, N. i SE. i SE. i, SE. i SE. i, of 

31-25-13. Julv 10. 1903. 
NW. i NW. i of 28-29-13: SW. i SE. i NW. i, N. i SE. i NW.i, 

SE. i SE. i NW. i, of 29-29-13. Julv 10, 1903. 
E. i NW. i SW, i, less 1.97 acres K. O. C. and S. R. R. right of 

wav, SW. i NE. i SW. i, N. k NE. i SW. i, SE. i NE. i SW. i, 

of 29-29-13. .Tulv 10, 1903. 
NW. i NE. i. SW. 'i NE. i NE. i. N. i NE. i NE. i, SE. i NE. i 

NE. i, of 31-2.5-13. July 10, 1903. 
SW. i NE. 1, SW. i SE. i NE. i. N. i SE. i NE. k, SE. i SE. i 

NE. i, of 31-2.5-13. Julv 10, 1903. 
S. i SW. i SW. i, NE. i SW, i SW. i, SE. i NW. i SW. i NW. i 

SW. i SW. i, W. i NW. i SW. i. of 28-2H-21. Julv 11, 1903. 
W. i NE. i SE. i of 24-28-13. July 13, 1903. 
SW. i NW. i, SW. 10 acres lot 4, N. 19.91 acres lot 4, SE. 10 

acres lot 4, of 1-25-13. Julv 14, 1903. 
S. i SE. i SE. i of 28-26-lf;. Julv 14, 1903. 
S. i SW. i SE. i, NE. i SW. i SE. i. of 28-2(5-16. Julv 14. 1903. 
SE. i SE. i NW. i of 31-16-20. Julv 15, 1903, 
SE, i SE i SW. i of 1-15-19; NE. i'NW. i, N. i SE. i NW. i, 

SW. i SE. i NW. i, of 31-16-20. July 15, 1903. 
SE. 10 acres lot 1 of 1-15-19; SE. 10 acres lot 3, lot 4, of 6-1.5-20. 

Julv 15, 1903. 
SW. 10 acres lot 1 of 1-1.5-19. July 15, 1903. 
SW. i SW. i, less 1.27 acres M., K. and O. R. R. right of wav. of 

21-27-13; SE. 10 acres lot 4, N. 20.30 acres lot 4, SW. 10 acres 

lot 4, of :3-26-13, Julv 15. 1903. 
NE. i SE, i SW. i of l-i.5-19. July 16, 1903. 
SE. i SE. i SW. i of 1-1.5-19. July 16, 1903. 
SE. i NE. i. less 1 acre reserved for cemetery, of 24-27-12. 

July 15, 1903, 
E. i NW. i NW. i of 29-27-13. Julv 15, 1903. 
W. i e: i NE. i of 24-2&-13. July 16, 1903. 
W. i W. i SW. i of 1-2.5-13: SE. i NE. i SE. i of 2-2.5-13; SW. i 

NE. i SE. i, S. i NW. i SE. i, of 2-25-13. Julv 17, 1903. 
NE. i NW. i. SE. i NW. i NW. i, N. i NW. i NW. h SW. i NW. 

i NW. i, of 13-24-14, Julv 17, 1903. 
SW. i NE. i. less 0.10 acreM., K. and O. R. R. right of wav. of 

(5-26-13. Julv 17, 1903. 
NW. i NE. i, SW. i NE. i NE. i, N. i NE. i NE. i, SE. i NE. i 

NE. i. of 14-28-19. Julv 17. 1903. 
NW. i NE. i NE. i of 31-27-13. July 20, 1903. 
SE. i NE. i of 31-27-13; NE. i SE. i NW. i S, i SE. i NW. i, 

NW. i SE. i NW. i, of 29-27-13. Julv 20, 1903. 
SW. i NE. i of 31-27-13: NE. i NE. i SW. i. W. i NE. i SW. i, 

SE. A NE. i SW. i, of 29-27-13. Julv 20. 1903. 
NW, i NE. i, SE, 10 acres lot 3, W. 21.28 acres lot 3, NE. 10 

acres lot 3, of 31-27-13. Julv 20, 1903. 
W. i E. i SW. i, NE. i SE. i SW. i, E. i NE. i SW. i; W. i NW. 

A SE. i, of 19-26-13. Julv 20, 1903. 
SW. i SE. i NW. i, NW, i NE. i SW. J, of 30-26-13. Julv 20, 1903. 
NW. i SW. i SE. i of 19-26-13; E. i NE. i NE. i, N. i SE. i NE. 

A. NE. i NW, A SE. i. SW. i SE. J NE, i. SE. i SW. i NE. a, 

NW. i NE. A SE. A of i50-26-13. Julv 20, 1903. 
SW. A SW. A NE. A, W. A NW. A SE. a. E. a NE. a SW. a, SE. J SE. 

A NW. A of 30-26-13. Julv 20, 1903. 
SE. A SE. A, le.ss .5.96 acres,"K. O. C. and S. R. R. right of way, 

and less 2.12 acres, M. K. and O. R. R. right of wav, of 1-26-12. 

Julv 21, 1903, 
NW. A NE. A, less 1.53 acres, M. K. and O. R. R. right of way 

and station grounds, and less 3.77 acres, K. O. C. and S. R. R. 

right of way and station grounds, of 12-26-12; NW. a nE. a 

NE. A, le.ss 1.90 acres, M. K. and O. R. R. right of wav, and 

less 3.66 acres, K. O. C. and S. R. R. right of wav, of 12-26-12; 

E. A NE. A NE. A, less 0.15 acre, M. K. and O. R. K. right of 

way, of 12-26-12; SW. a nE. a nE. a, less 0,.52 acre, M. K. 

and O. R. R. right of wav, and less 0.09 acre, K. O. C. and 

S. R. R. right of wav, of 12-26-12. Julv 21, 1903. 
S. A SE. A NE. A, N. A NE. a sE. a, NE. a SE. a NE. a, E. a NE. 

A NE. A of 7-26-13. Oct. 2, 1903. 
NE. A SW. A, SE. 10 acres of lot 3, W'. 19.96 acres of lot 3, NE. 

10 acres of lot 3 of 19-21-13. Oct. 2 1903. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 129 

Exhibit 6o. 

Dki'aktmext of the Ixteriok, 

Wa.sliinytun, Octoher -^9, 190-3. 
The Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, Mu.srogic, Lid. T. 

Gentlemen: By letter of October G, 1903, you were directed to make such exami- 
nation and investigation as would enable you to determine what tracts of land 
should be adde<l to the list of lands to be segre<,fated for the ])rotection of the Dela- 
ware Indians in the Cherokee Nation, and what tracts embraced in the list hereto- 
fore made out should l)e stricken therefrom. It is important that a final list should 
be made up and approved as soon as may be. It is efjually important, however, 
that the interests of all concerned should be carefully respected and protected. 

In order that the Department may have a better understanding of the condition of 
affairs, and to the end that speedy action may be taken when you shall submit a new 
list for action 1)}' the Department, these further instructions are given: You will, at 
your earliest convenience, make uj) a list of the tracts embraced in the former list 
which, as shown by the records of your office, are claimed and occupied l)y Dela- 
ware Indians, and to which there are no adverse claims. You will make another 
list, which shall embrace all tracts claimed by Delaware Indians, but not included 
in the list heretofore presented to you. You will make a third list, embracing the 
tracts included in the list heretofore presented, to which some Cherokee citizen other 
than a Delaware makes claim. Y'ou will transmit with each of these lists a state- 
ment of the condition of the tracts embraced therein as to the occupancy thereof 
and improvements thereon so far as the same are known to you, and will also rec- 
ommend what action should be taken by the Department upon each of such lists. 

These instructions are not intended to supersede those of October 6, and you will 
therefore proceed upon any line of examination and inve.stigation which may have 
been entered upon under those instructions. 

Very respectfully, E. A. Hitchcock, Secretary. 



Exhibit 66. 

Department of the Interior, 

Washington, October 30, 190.3. 
Mr. Richard C. Adams, Bond Building, Washington, D. C. 

Sir: There is transmitted herewith for your information a copy of departmental 
letter, dated the 29th instant, and sent to the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 
instructing it further in the matter of the investigation now being carried on con- 
cerning segregated Delaware lands in the Cherokee Nation, Ind. T. 
Respectfully, 

Thos. Ryan, Acting Secretary. 



Exhibit 67. 

Department op the Interior, 
Co.MMissioN to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Muscogee, Ind. T., Novcmhcr 11, 190-3. 
RiciiAKi) C. Adams, Esq., 

Bond Building, Wasliington, D. C. 
Dear Sir: Receipt is acknowledged of your letter of October 22, 190.'5, in which 
you say you have received many letters from Delaware Indians during the last few 
months, in which it is asserted that their homes and interests are being jeo])ardized 
and threatened by the claims of Cherokee of the right to interfi-re with their segre- 
gated lands by filing applications with the Commission ami receiving from the Com- 
mis.xion papers in recognition of such rights, and stating that the Cherokee, in many 
instances, have threatened the Delawares in po.«session with ejectment, and have 
forbidden them tresjnissiiig on the lands so claimed by said Cherokee. 

You also ask to l)e a<lvised if the Commission recognizes, or has, at any time, rec- 
ognized the right of selection for allotment of any lands embraced in the LT7,6()0-acre 
segregation as made by this Commission, and if not, what is the nature of the notice 
or claim which such Cherokee are authorized to file with the Commission; and if 
it gives the Cherokee citizen any i)rior right to sui-h land in ca.'^e the present suit 

S. Doc. 16 9 



130 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

pending should be decided against the Delaware?. You ask also for cojues of such 
papers as are filed by such claimants, and copies of papers that have been issued by 
the Commission upon such application. 

In reply you are advised that in permitting a Cherokee by blood to apply for land 
embraced in the Delaware segregation, the testimony of the applicant, touching the 
land, was taken, but in no case was such aisplication treated as the regular applica- 
tions which are made for lands not embraced in said segregation, and action was 
suspended thereon to await the final determination of the Delaware suit, the 
Cherokee making the application then and there being required to accept notice to 
that effect. 

For your information there is inclosed a blank copy of such notice. 

No farther action after this has ever been taken by the Commission on applications 
made for lands in the Delaware segregation, but as stated above, are simply held 
and action suspended thereon until final determination of the suit which is now 
pending. 

Respectfully, Tams Bixby, Chairman. 



Exhibit 68. 
This is formal notice to you by the Commission that the 



embraced in the segregation which has been made to the Delaware Indians who are 
members of the Cherokee Nation under the provisions of section 28 of the act of 
Congress approved July 1, 1902, and that you will not be allowed this land for 

until the suit of the Delaware Indians against the Cherokee Nation, 

now pending, has been determined, and that a final allotment of this land to 

will not be made at this time. 

I accept this service of notice. 



Exhibit 69. 

Department of the Interior, 
Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 

Muscogee, Ind. T., November 11, 1903. 
Richard C. Adams, Esq., 

Bond Building, WasJungfon, D. C. 
Dear Sir: Receipt is acknowledged of your letter of October 12, in which you ask 
for a complete record of each case wherein Cherokee have applied for land in the 
Delaware segregation. 

In reply you are advised that this office is informed that Mr. Chase, of Washing- 
ton, D. C, one of your representatives, ])rocured copies of these applications some 
Aveeks ago at the land office at Tahlequah. If the information procured by him is 
not sufficient, if you will kindly let us know in what way it is defective or incom- 
plete, we will try and make it as complete as our records show. 
Respectfully, 

Tams Bixby, Chairmnn. 



Exhibit 70. 
A hrief hhtory of the Delaware Indiann. 

INTKt)DlCTORY NOTE. 

No nation or tribe of Indians, we may safely assume, has engaged the attention of 
the whites in this country to the same extent as the Delawares, the "grandfather" 
of the Algonquin tribes. 

The Delawares liave done less to impede and certainly more to aid the progress of 
the white man's work in settling and developing the North Anu'vican continent tlian 
anj' other Indians. 

They were among the first people with whom the English, the Dutch, and the 
Swedes came in contact on tlie Atlantic coast three centuries or more ago. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 131 

Their friendly aid and hospitality, extended promptly to the newcomers from the 
Old World, furnished the first earnest jjood will and brotherly kinihies.s that the red 
man felt for these white explorers — a hrotherly kindness which, had it l)een recip- 
rocated and cultivated, would have diminished very "freatly the hardships involved 
in settUng and peopling this vast new territory — would have saved a race of good, 
strong, kind, and honest people froiii cruel, premature extinction, and would have 
avoided the one bad blot upon the page of the white man's liistory in this country. 

The kindness felt and shown by the Delawares toward the white man at the begin- 
ning of their intercmnse has continued throughout these three hundred years or 
more, as is amply shown in the numerou'* historical accounts of the couduc-t of the 
Delawares in peace and in war, both before and since the formation of the Govern- 
ment of the United States. 

It is of this Indian peojile that I venture now to offer a brief history covering the 
early legendary period, tracing their course from the time when as a mighty 
nation embracing many liands they owned and occupied that vast, magnificent ter- 
ritory extending along the Atlantic coast from Virginia to ^lassachusetts, and follow- 
ing them in their successive migrations and removals through western I'ennsylvania, 
Ohio, Indiana, ^Missouri, Kansas, and (inally dealing with them in their ultimate 
home within the Cherokee Nation in the Indian Territory. 

So nuich has been written of the Delaware Indians in early times that a full and 
comprehensive history, gathered from the manysources in which it has been recorded, 
would necessarily be a large and exliaustive work. At this time, however, my effort 
is only to produce a brief and accurate sketch of the history of my people, at the 
time when the last bond uniting them in their tribal relations is being severed by 
the action of the General Government in segregating their lanils, allotting them in 
severalty, and thereby rendering them in all respects citizens of the United States. 

To the memory of my ancestor. Captain White Eyes, whose and>ition it was that 
the Delawares and their confederated bands should be consolidated and become the 
fourteenth State in the I'nion, and to my Delaware brethren in the United States 
this sketch is affectionately dedicated. 

K. C. A. 



CHAPTER I. 

From the traditions of the Delaware Indians, we are led to believe that they 
originally came from some place in the far northwest.^ 

They call themselves "Lenni Lenape," or original peojile, or men that are men. 
Most tribes call them "Grandfather," recognizing them as an older race, or the 
trunk race from which other tribes sprung.'^ Heckewelder stated that Lenni means 
original, pure, and that Lenape signifies people; hence, he interpreted the name as 
"original people." 

The tribe was divided into three principal clans — the " Turtle," which is the oldest; 
the "Wolf," and the "Turkey." Each clan was entitled to a chief and a war chief. 
Over all the clans was a sachem (sah-kee-mun), who came from the Turtle clan. 
His ofhce was hereditary. 

The Delaware Indians did not depend solely upon the chase for subsistence, for 
they grew large fields of corn or maize, scjuash, beans, sweet jiofatoes, and tobacco. 
They manufactured a kind of pottery, dressed deerskins, and made beads or wam- 
pum, feather mantles and other ornaments, and used consideral)le native copper, 
which they hammered into ornaments or used for arrowheads ami pipes. They also 
made stone pipes, bows, and arrowheads. .The corn or maize was broken up in 
stone or wooden mortars, with stone or wooden pestles. Their implements of war 
were war clubs, tomahawks, bows and arrows, scal])ing knives, and spears. They 
often used a shield of thick, dried hide for defense. Tliey used the bow and arrow 
and spear for killing fish and game. They caught fish with fishhooks made of bone 
an<l dried claws of birds, ami also used brush nets. 

They made use of paints and dyes, which they derived from both mineral and 
vegetable realms, to decorate themselves when going to war. or for ])icture writing, 
which was their means of keeping records of historical events or of conununicating 
Avith each other. 

They had their native priests or medicine men, and of those there were two 
classes — one who devoted themselves to divinati()n and (he other to healing of the sick. 
Tlie medicine men woulil interpret dreams of others and of themselves, and claime(l 
the power to dream truthfully of the future and of the absent. In their visions their 
guardian spirits visited them'; they became, as they called it, "all light," and they 



182 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

"could see through men and know the thoughts of their hearts." At such times they 
were also instructed at what spots the hunters could successfully seek game. 

To Heckewelder we are indebted for tlie following legends of their origin: 

"The Leuni Lenape (according to the tradition handed down to them by their 
ancestors) resided many hundred years ago in a very distant country in the western 
part of the American continent.^ For some reason, which I do not find accounted 
for, they determined on migrating to the eastward, and accordingly set out together 
in a body. After a very long journey, and many nights' encampments by the way, 
they at length arrived on the Nanioesi Sipu, where they fell in with the Mengwe, 
who had likewise emigrated from a distant country, and had struck upon this river 
somewhat higher up. Their object was the same with that of the Delawares; they 
were proceeding on to the eastward, until they should find a country that pleased 
them. The spies which the Lenape had sent forward for the purpose of recon- 
noitering, had long before their arrival discovered that the country east of the Missis- 
sippi was inhabited by a very powerful nation, who had many large towns built on 
the great river flowing through their land. Those people (as I was told) called 
themselves Talligeou or Talligewi. Col. John Gibson, however, a gentleman who has 
a thorough knowledge of the Indians, and speaks several languages, is of opinion 
that they were not called Talligewi, l)ut Alligewi. * * * 

" Many wonderful things are told of this famous people. They are said to have 
been remarkably tall and stout, and there is a tradition that there were giants among 
them, i)eople of a much larger size than tlie tallest of the Lenape. It is related that 
they had built for themselves regular fortifications or entrenchments, from whence 
they would sally out, but were generally repulsed. * * * 

"When the Lenapes arrived on the banks of the Mississippi, they sent a message 
to the Alligewi to request permission to settle themselves in their neighborhood. 
This was refused them, but they obtained leave to pass through the country and seek 
a settlement farther to the eastward. They accordingly began to cross the Namaesi 
Sipu, when the Alligewi, seeing that their numbers were so very great, and in fact 
they consisted of many thousand, made a furious attack on those who had crossed, 
threatening them all with destruction if they dared to persist in coming over to their 
side of the river. * * * 

" Having united their forces, tlie Lenapes and Mengwe declared war against the 
Alligewi, and great battles were fought, in which many warriors fell on both sides. 
The enemy fortified their large towns and erected fortifications, esj^ecially on large 
rivers near lakes, where they were successfully attacked and sometimes stormed by 
the allies. An engagement took place in which hundreds fell, who were afterwards 
buried in holes or laid together in heaps and covered over with earth. No quarter 
was given, so that the Alligewi, at last, finding that their destruction was inevitable 
if they persisted in their obstinacy, abandoned the country to the conquerors, and 
fled down the Mississippi River, from whence they never returned. * * * 

"A French writer, Henri Ternaux Cam pans, says that the greater loss of people 
between the Mengwe and the Lenajie fell on the latter, because the former had taken 
care, during the several battles that culminated in the final victory, not to appear 
until the moment of pillage arrived. 

" In the end the conquerors divided the country between themselves; theMengv/e 
made choice of the lands in the vicinity of the Great Lakes and on their tributary 
streams, and the Lenape took possession of the country to the south. For a long 
period of time — some say many hundred years — the two nations resided ])eaceably 
in this country, and increased very fast: some of their most enterprising huntsmen 
and warriors crossed the great swamps, and falling on streams running to the east- 
ward, followed them down to the great Bay River, thence into the bay itself, which 
we call Chesapeake. As they pursued their travels, partly by land and ])artly l)y 
water, sometimes near and at other times on the great Salt-water Lake, as they call 
the sea, they discovered the great river, which we call the Delaware, and thence 
exploring still eastward, the Scheyichbi country, now named New Jersey, they 
arriveil at anotiier great stream, that which we call the Hudson (ir North River. * * * 

"At last they settk'd on the four great rivers (which we call the Delaware, Hud- 
son, Susquehanna, Potomac), making the Delaware, to which they gave the name 
of ' Lenape-wihittuck ' (the river or stream of the Lenape), the center of their 
possessions. 

"They say, however, that the whole of their nation did not reach this country; 
that many remained behind, in order to aid and assist that great body of people 
which had not crossed the Namaesi Sipu, but had retreated into the interior of the 
country on the other side. * * * 

"Their nation linally became divided into three separate bodies. The larger body, 
which they sup})ose to have been one-half the whole, was settled on the Atlantic 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 133 

and the other half was atrain divided into two partn, one of which, the ptronjrest, as 
they jiuppo.-e, remained ))eyond tlie Mississippi, and the remainder where they left 
them, on this side of tliat river. 

"Those of tlie Deiawares who fixed their abodes on the shores of the Atlantic 
divided themselves into three tribes. Two of them, distinguished by the names of 
the Turtle and the Turkey, the former callinjf themselves I'nami, and the other 
Unalachtiiro, chose those trrounds to settle on which lay nearest to the sea, between 
the coast and the high mountains. As they multiplied, their .settlements extended 
from the ]\Iohicanittuck (river of the ^Mohicans, which we call the North or Hudson 
River) to the Potomac. * * * 

"The third trilie, the Wolf, commonly called the Minsi, which we have corrupted 
into ilonseys, had chosen to live back of the other two. * * * They extended 
their settlements from the Minisink, a ]>lace named after them, where they had 
their council seat and fire, (piite up to the Hudson on the east, and to the west or 
southward far beyond the Sus(juehanna. 

"From the above three tribes, the Unami, Unalichtigo, and the ^linsi, had. in 
the course of time, sprung many others, * * * the ^hihicanni, or Mohicans, 
who spread themselves over all that country which now composes the Eastern 
States, * * * and the Nanti(!okes, who proceeded far to the South, in Maryland 
and Virginia." 

Benjamin Smith Barton, in his book published in 1798, entitled, New Views of 
the Origin of the Tribes and Nations of America, says: 

"Of all the Indian nations which formerly inhabited, and do still iidiabit, the 
countries of America, from the State of ^lassachu.setts down to the ^Mississipjii, and 
betw^een the river Ohio and the lakes of Canada, n<me but the Deiawares and the 
Five Nations had the right to call a general council. The Wyaiidots and Ilurons 
might call them occasionally. 

"The Deiawares appear to have been formerly the superiors of the otlier nations 
of North America that are comprehended within the limits which I have mentioned. 
Their traditional history, which is still extant, proves this assertion. But by the 
cunning of the Five Nations, who are perhaps the greatest politicians of all the North 
American Indians, they were allured into a war with the enemies of the Five Nations 
and finally were conquered. 

"After this stroke of policy, for the meanness of policy is not confined to civilized 
nations, the Deiawares were told that their legs being now cut off they must wear 
the petticoat, become women, turn their hands to the raising of corn, etc., and leave 
the higher business of warring to the conquerors.^ 

" However, in the year 1776 or 1777, when the Five Nations were using all their 
endeavors to bring all the Indian nations into the war against the F^nited States, a 
Delaware chief, relying upon the faith and promises of our infant States, had the 
resolution to sav to some of the chiefs of the Five Nations then a.sseml)led at Fort 
Pitt 'that he well remembered that they had formerly cut off his legs and made a 
W'oman of him by putting a petticoat upon him and by other degrading marks, but 
that now his legs were grown again; that he had thrown away the petticoat and had 
put on the breechclout again,' adding that 'the land beyond the river Alleghany 
was his property.' 

" From this period the Deiawares have again assumed considerable authority 
among the American tribes. The Five Nations, indeed, aspire to be the sovereigns 
of all other tribes, and for many years ])a.«t have assumed the right of making war 
and of concluding peace, according as it best answered their purjjose. They have 
also assumed the right of selling land to the whites. They wish to be looked upon 
by the other nations as their guardians, which it nuist be allowed they were for 
many years. But of late years matters have taken a different turn. The wesrern 
nations have at length discovered the intentions of the artful confederacy and now 
go so far as to threaten them with destruction if they do not unite with them or ful- 
fill the condition of the league. 

"The Deiawares are at present at the head of this league, and, relying upon the 
fidelity of the nations who are combined with them, now give, in some measure, law 
to the Five Nations. 

"The Wvandots, being the guarantees of the Deiawares, are under obligation to 
a.ssist them when they shall liecome involved in war, and especially when they shall 
be in danger of losing their lands, for the Deiawares have now no lands but what 
have been given to them by the Wyandots, who at the time the gift wa,s ma«le engage<l 
to protect the former in the property of them against any inva<ler. The league of 
association bi'tween tin- Deiawares and Wyandots was fornie(l in the year 1751. 

"The Chippewas, who are the .second tribe mentioned in my list, evidently speak 
a dialect of the Delaware language. Of this nation I do not think it necessary to say 



134 MEMOKIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

anything further, as the reader will obtain amj^le information concerning them in 
Carver's Travels, a work which is in the hands of almost every person who is the 
least studious of the Indian affairs of this country. I do not know the meaning of 
the word Chippewa or Chippeway. The Chippewas formed a part of the hostile 
Indians who defeated General St. Clair on the 4th of November, 1791. We have 
cause to remember them. * * * 

"The vast spread of the language of the Delawares in North America is also evi- 
denced by the Indian names of many of the waters, the mountains, and the valleys 
of the country. It is a fact that from the Atlantic to the Mississippi a large propor- 
tion of the rivers and creeks, in particular, are still best known by the names (or 
rather corruptions of the names) imposed upon them by the Delawares and their 
brethren. I shall fully illustrate this assertion in a map which is intended to be 
prefixed to my large work relative to this country. This is not the place to do it at 
length. I may observe, however, that Massachusetts, Connecticut, Monongahela, 
Allegheny, Muskingum, Savanna, and Mississippi itself, are all Delaware words. I 
believe the same may besaidof the Missouri. Ohioand Susquehannaarenot Delaware 
words. * * * 

"But few of the Delaware nations have been stationary, and wherever we push 
our inquiries we discover traces of these nations and their languages. A nation called 
the INIonsonies, and another called the Mattasins are said to reside in the vicinity of 
Hudson Bay. Both of these nations are doubtless Delaware. INIonsonies are the 
nation, or a part of them, whom we call Monsees; and the word Mattasin signifies in 
the language of the Monsees, a tobacco pipe; or, perhaps, rather the T)owl of the pipe. 
In a letter to me dated February 26 of the present year, 3Ir. Hec'kewelder says, 
' Last summer, while at Muskingum, an Indian who visited i7s told us that some of 
the nation (Delawares) which had traveled not long since far up the JMissouri River 
met with real Delawares, who spoke their language.' I believe the Assinijjoils, or 
Assiniboils, who reside beyond Lake Superior, speak a dialect of the Delaware lan- 
guage. The word Assinipoil is certainly a Delaware word. It signifies the standing 
rock. If, in the progress of future inquiries, it should be discovered that the tribes 
of the Delaware stock have not been more given to wandering than those of the other 
races I have mentioned,- 1 am persuaded it will be coiupletely ascertained that the 
dialects of the Delawares have a much more extensive range in North America than 
any other." 

The D laware Indians always held a thanksgiving dance during the full moon of 
each autumn. This dance lasted twelve days and nights, during which time they 
feasted and thanked the Great Spirit for maintenance and support.^ At other times 
of the year they had other kinds of dances — the buffalo dance, the bread dance, the 
woman dance, the war dance, and other kinds. 

The Delaware Indians were nearly always kind to their prisoners. In the "His- 
tory of the Conspiracy of Pontiac," pages 507 and 508, we find the following: 

"The word prisoner, as applied to captives taken bj^ the Indians, is a misnomer, 
and conveys a wholly false impression of their situation and treatment. When the 
vengeance of the comiuerers is stated, when they have shot, stabbed, burned, or 
beaten to death enough to satisfy the shades of their departed relatives, they usually 
treat those who survive their wrath with moderation and humanity, often adopting 
them to supply the place of lost brothers, husbands, or children, whose names are 
given to the successors thus substituted in their place. By a formal ceremony the 
white blood is washed from their veins, and they are regarded thenceforth as mem- 
bers of the tribe, faring equally with the rest in pro-^perity or adversity, in famine or 
abundance. When children are adopted in this manner by Indian women they 
nurture them with the same tenderness and indulgence which they extend, in a 
remarkable degree, to their own offspring, and such young women as will not marry 
an Indian husband are treated with a singular forbearance, in which superstition, 
natural temperament, and a sense of right and justice may all claim a share. 

"The captive, unless he excites suspicion by his conduct, or exhiliits peculiar con- 
tumacy, is left with no other restraint than his own free will. The warrior who 
captured him or to whom he was assigned in the division of the spoil, sometimes 
claims, it is true, a certain right of property in him, to the exclusion of others; but this 
claim is soon forgotten, and seldom exercised to the inconvenience of the cajjtive, 
who has no other prison than the earth, the air, and the forest. Five hundred 
miles of wilderness, beset with difficulty and danger, are the sole bars to his escape, 
should he desire to effect it: but, strange as it may api)ear, this wish is apt to expire 
in his heart, and he often remains to the end of liis life a contented denizen of the 
woods." 

The Delawares always treated their women with respect and reverence, and even 
in council their voices were heard, and rarely were they forced to do anything 
against their wills." ' 



MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 135 

In speaking of their character, it was the opinion of Fattier La Jenne, one of the 
most devoted of the earUer French missionaries, that, "in j)oint of intellect," the 
American red man could be placed in a high rank. "The Indian," he said, "I 
can well compare to some of our own (French ) villagers who are left without instruc- 
tion. I have scarcely seen any person who lias come from France to this ctiuntry 
who does not acknowledge that the savages have more intellect or cai)acity than 
most of our peasantry." Tlie French traveler, Charlevoix, was even more emphatic: 
"The l)eauty of their imagination," he says, " eipials its vivacity, which appears in 
all their discourses. They are very (]uick at repartee, and their harangues are full 
of shining passages which would have been ai)plauded at Rome or Athens. Tlieir 
eloquence has a strength, nature, and pathos which no art can give and which 
Greeks admired in the Ixirbarians." 

George Catlin said of the Delawares: "The very sound of this name has carried 
terror wherever it has been heard in the Indian wilderness; and it has traveled and 
been known, as well as the i)eople, over a great yuirt of the continent. This tribe 
orginally occupied a great part of the eastern border of Pennsylvania and a great 
part of the States of New Jersey and Delaware. No other tribe on the continent has 
been so much moved and jostled about by civilized invasions; and none have 
retreated so far, or fought their ways so desperately, as they have honoral)ly and 
bravely contended for every foot of the ground they have passed over. From the 
banks of the Delaware to the lovely Susquehanna, and my native valley, and to the 
base of and over the Allegheny Mountains to the Ohio River, to the Illinois and 
the >Iis!-issippi, and at last to the west of the [Missouri, they have been moved Ijy 
treaties after treaties with the Government, who have now assigned to the mere 
handful of them that are left a tract of land, as has been done a dozen times l>efore, 
in fee simple, forever. 

"In every move the poor fellows have made they have been thrust, against their 
wills, from "the graves of their fathers and their children, and planted as they now 
are (1845) on the l)orders of new enemies, where their first occupation has been 
to take up their weapons in self-defense, and light for the ground they have been 
planted on. There is no tribe, perhaps, amongst which greater and more continued 
exertions have Vjeen made for their conversion to Christianity, and that ever since 
the zealous efforts of the Moravian missionaries who first began with them, nor any, 
amongst whom those pious and zealous efforts have been squandered more in vain — 
which has probably been owing to the bad faith with which they have so often and 
so continually beeii treated by white people, which has excited prejudices that have 
stood in the way of their mental improvement. 

"This scattered and reduced tribe, which once embraced some 10,000 or 15,000, 
numbers at this time but 800." 

Even after the Delawares had liecome embittered and corrupted by the gross 
knavery of the whites (for example, the notorious "long walk") and the deba.-ing 
influence of alcohol, .«uch an authority as Gen. William H. Harrison could write 
these words: "A long and intimate knowledge of them (Delawares) in peace and 
war, as enemies and friends, has left upon my mind the most favorable impression 
of their character for bravery, generosity, and fidelity to their engagements." 

One of the first explorers of the Delawares, Capt. Thomas Young (1()34), descril)es 
them (the Delawares) as "very well proportioned, well featured, gentle, tractable, 
and docile." 

Of their doiBestic affections, Mr. Heckewelder, the candid and well-informed 
historian, writes: "I do not believe that there are any people on earth who are more 
attached to their relatives and offspring than these Indians (the Delawares) are." 

In "An account of the conduct of the Society of Friends toward the Indian tribes," 
published in London in 1844, I find the following: 

•'Amidst all tlie devasting incursions of the Indians in North America it is a 
remarkable fac;t that no friend who stood faitliful to his principles in the disuse of 
all weapons of war, the cause of which was generally understood by the Indians, 
ever suffered molestation from them." 

D. G. Brinton, a life-long student of the American Indians, and especially of the 
Leni Lenape, makes this significant statement: 

"The fart that, for more than forty years after the founding of Penn's colony, there 
was not a single murder connnitted on a settler by an Indian it.-^elf speaks vohnnes 
for their self-control and moral character. So far from provoking (piarrels with tlu' 
whites, they extended them frien<lly aid and cond"ort." 

Me instances the folhnving exami">U' in supjiort of this view, taken from the records 
of his own family: 

"My ancestor, "William Brinton, arrived in the fail of 1(>84, and with his wife and 
children innnediately took possession of a grant in the unbroken wilderness about 



136 MEMOKIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

20 miles from Philadelphia. A severe winter set in; their food supply was exhausted, 
and they would probal)lj' have perished but for the assistance of some lodges of 
Lenape, who provided them with food and shelter. It is, therefore, a debt of grati- 
tude which I owe to this nation to gather its legends, its language, and its memories, 
so that they — 

" In books recorrtert 

" May, like hoarded 

" Household words, no more depart." 

The following is from George Catlin's North x\merican Indians: 
"By nature they are discreet and modest, unassuming and inoffensive, and all 
history (which I could quote to the end of a volume) proves them to have been 
found friendly and hospitable on all parts of the American Continent. And from 
what I have seen (which I offer as proof, rather than what I have read) I am will- 
ing and proud to add, tor the ages who are only to read of these people, my testimony 
to that which was given by tlie innnortal Columbus, who wrote back to his royal 
master and mistress, from his first position on the new continent: ' I swear to Your 
Majesties that there is not a better people in the world than these, more affectionate, 
affable, or mild. They love their neighbors as themselves, and thej' always speak 
smilingly.' " 



CHAPTER II. 

In the year 1623 a number of emigrants from Holland, under the guidance of Cor- 
nelius May, arrived on the Delaware. Having brought with them a stock of mer- 
chandise, as well as the means of defense, they sailed up the river as far as Gloucester 
Point, about 4 miles south of the spot where the city of Philadelphia now stands. 
At a short distance southeast of this point, on a very commanding jiosition near the 
mouth of Timber Creek, May landed his forces and l)uilt Fort Nassau. May acted 
as the agent of the "West India Company," a Holland company. He was the first 
European who sailed up the river Delaware. It api)ears that the concern was not 
sufficiently profital)le to induce the company to support it. Its object was trade, not 
colonization. In ten years after its establishment De Vries found it in the possession 
of the Indians. 

Accrelius affirms that when the Swedes first arrived (in 163iS) "the Dutch had no 
establishment on the Delaware." 

Proud says that "the commodious situation of New York for the sea and trade 
induced the most of them (the Dutch) who were settled on the Delaware soon after 
to quit it, and fix their settlements on both sides of the North River, before any of 
the Swedes came to America." Campanius savs "the Dutch also claimed a right to 
it (the country) because they had visited it before the Swedes and had erected three 
forts there, which had, however, been utterly destroyed by the Indians, and all who 
were therein murdered or driven away, so that they had abandoned it entirely when 
the Swedes came." 

The foregoing statements are chiefly based upon a work published in 1846 by 
Benjamin Ferris, an apparently impartial and well-informed historian of the events 
of tlie early period of which he writes. There is no doubt but that the colony 
attempted to be planted by De Vries came to a melancholy end by reason of the 
indiscretions and injustices practiced by those left in charge of his settlement by 
De Vries during an absence in Europe. The members of the settlement were all 
destroyed. 

David Peterson De Vries was a just man, and, though he had greatly suffered in his 
projterty by the acts of the Indians, abhorred the cruelty ])racticed against them, 
and in the book published by him expresses his detestation of the inhumanity of 
the whites toward the aborigines. He has placed upon record in his book the follow- 
ing case of barbarity. 

It was perpetrated by the Dutch at Pavonia, in New Jersey, nearly opposite to the 
city of New York, and also on the Raritan: 

"It was in the night," saysDeVries, "of the 2otli and 2()th of February, 1643, that 
they executed these fine deeds. I remained that night at tlie governor's, and took 
a seat in the kitchen, near the lire. At midnigiit I lu>ard loud shrieks. I went out 
to the ]>arapets of the fort and looked out toward Pavonia. I saw iiotliiiig4)ut the 
flash of the guns and lu>ard nothing more of the yells and clamour of the Tmlians, 
who were bntciiered during theii' sleep. About day the soldiers returned to the fort, 
having nun-dered 80 Indians. And this was the feat worthy of the heroes of old 
Rome, to massacre a parcel of Indians in their sleep; to take the children from the 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 187 

breagts of their mothers, to l)uti'her them in the i)reseiK'e of their parents^, and throw 
their inanj>:led IxxUes into the tire or water. Otiier .-urkhiifj:.-^ had been fastened ( Ijy 
their motiiers) to little hoards (according to the Indian manner of mnvinfi very 
young infants), and in this position they were cut to pieces. Some were thrown into 
the river, and when the i)arents rushe<l in to save them, the soldiers prevented their 
landing, and let the parents and children go down togetlier. Children r> or (i years' 
old were murdered, and some aged, decre{>it men cut to pieces. Those who escaped 
these horrors and found shelter in bushes and reeds, making in the morning their 
appearance to beg S(jme food or to warm tliem.selves, were killed in cold blood, or 
thrown into the fire or water; some came running to us in the country, having their 
han( Is cut off: some had their arms and legs cut off; some who had their legs cut off were 
sup]iorting their entrails with their arms; others were mangled in other horrid ways, 
in part too shocking to be conceived. After this ex|)l(>it the soldiers were rewarded 
for their .-services, and Director Kieft thanked them by taking tlieiu by the hand and 
congratulating them."' 

From the time of Hudson's discoveries in 1609 until 1637, a period of twenty-eight 
years, no successful effort to plant a colony on the Delaware had been made. The 
first attempt under May had failed by the voluntary removal of the enugrants to the 
Xorth River and its vicinity. The second attempt, under De \' ries, in 1681, failed l)y 
the indiscretion of his agent and the murder of his colonists. From the failure of 
De Vries until the arrival of the Swedes in 1688 no effort was made to plant a colony 
or form a settlement on the shores of the Delaware. 

William Usselinx, a distinguished merchant of Stockliolm, was the first to iiropose 
to the Swedish Government a scheme for planting a colony in America. In the year 
1624 he proposed to the Swedish monarch, Gustavus Adolphus, a plan for the organi- 
zation of a trading company to extend its operations to Asia, Africa, America, ami 
Telia Magellanica. His plan and contract were translated into the vSwedish lan- 
guage. The King recommended it to the states, and an edict dated at Stockholm, 
July 2, 1626, was issued by royal authority, in which peo]de of all ranks were invited 
to encourage the i)roject. The plan was sujiported by the wealthy notables of the 
country. Ships and all necessaries were provided. The work was rij)e for execu- 
tion, when the (Terman war, and afterwards the king's death, prevented it, and 
rendered the fair prospect fruitless. Camj)anius says, "It was in the reign of (his- 
tavus that it was first visited and settled by the Swedes." It is owing to the preser- 
vation among the Dutch records at Albany of an official protest issued by Kieft, the 
governor of New Amsterdam, that we do certainly know the Swedes were here in 
the spring of 1638. Peter Minuet conducted to our shores the first Swedish c(j|ony. 
It is to be assumed that the building of a fort was their finst undertaking after their 
landing.'* 

The Dutch undoubtedly preceded the Swedes by a temporary occupancy of the 
territory comprising Xew Sweden; but they came not as cultivators of the soil, but 
for trade merely with the natives, not as homeseekers with their families. They 
built forts as places of security for themselves and their merchandise and then 
abandoned them and the country and withdrew to New Amsterdam, and only 
revived and reasserted their sovereignty after the frugal and industrious Swede and 
his family had by just, fair, ami humane treatment propitiated the Indian, and 
secured his gratitude and frien<lship, and only after the Swede had ])r()ven tlie capa- 
bility of the country for permanent settlt^ment. Then the Dutch came with Heets 
and soldiers and ))roclaiuations of superior rights, and by threats and force of arms 
compelled the thrifty but peaceful Swede to surrender. I am unable to deternnne 
from the confused history of the jwriod upon what grounds they asserted their claims 
of right, not by discovery {-ertainly, nor by conijuest, not l)y occupancy, for they had 
aV)andoned the country for years. The actual posse.ssion had been in the Indians 
for ages and ages, and was still in the Indians tliemselves, excepting so nuich of the 
soil as they had by treaty solemnly ceded to the just-dealing Swede. 

I can not read the histories of the conduct of the French, Fiiglish, and Dutch dur- 
ing these struggles for supremacy, without the slighte.-^t reganl for the rights of the 
natives, without amazement at their supreme selfishness. 

From a Ilistorv of the State of Delaware, by Francis Vincent, jiublished in 1870, 
we find an account of the council held by the Delaware Indians about Kilo, which 
was reported by (Jampanius. I am of the opinion that if we had the actual account 
of the council and the talks that were made, it would appear entirely different from 
what is recorded here, but for the benefit of the reailers, I will give it as recordeil by 
Campanius: 

Although the following council of Indians might have bt-en more appr<i|)riately 
introduced under the events of 1645, yet we relate them here, as illustrating the 
character of the Indians. As regards the place where the council was held, history 



138 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

doe^ not inform us. Frintz was governor of what is now our State at the time. It was 
called by the head sachem, Matta Horn/' to know whether the then inhabitants of 
Delaware, principally Swedes (though there were some Dutch) should be destroyed. 
The sachem calls his son, Agga Horn, and a dialogue occurs l)et\veen them, as follows: 

"Father Matta Horn: Where are the Swedes and the Dutch? 

"Son Agga Horn: Some of them are at Fort Christina, and some at New Gotten- 
berg. 

"Father: What do the the Swedes and the Dutch say now? 

"Son: They say. Why are the Indians so angry with us? Why do they say they 
will kill all of us Swedes, and root us out of the country? The Swedes are very good. 
They come in large, fast sailing ships, with all sorts of fine things from Swede's coun- 
try, or old Sweden. 

"Father: (io round to the other chiefs and to the common men and hear what 
they say. 

"Son: They vsay you Indians and we (Swedes and Dutch and English) are in 
friendship with each other. We are good men. Come to us. We have a great deal 
of cloth, kettles, gunpowder, guns, and all that you may want to buy. 

"Father: I understand. AVhat do you say about this, Agga Horn, my son? 

"Son: I say that I think it best not to fall ujion them, because the Swedes are 
skillful warriors. 

" Father: My son, you must go about here and there, to our good friends, the offi- 
cers and common men, and engage them to come immediately here to me that we 
may consult together as to what we shall do. 

" Son: It is well; I will go. 

" Father: Do that, l)ut don't be long away." 

The son comes again and salutes his father. 

"Son: My father, Matta Horn (that is), good-by, father, Matta Horn. 

"Father: Yes; here I am, my dear son, Agga Horn. 

"Son: Father, Matta Horn, I have done what you ordered me. 

"Father: Well, my son, what answered the officers? 

"Son: Tliey answered that thej' would come here to us the day after to-morrow. 

"Father: You, my son Agga Horn, may go with the men to shoot some deer in 
the woods. Perhaps the good gentlemen may be hungry when they come. 

" Son: I understand that well; I will go immediately out hunting." 

After being hunting, he returns with venison. 

"Father: Have you been hunting? 

"Son: Y^es; I have. 

" Father: What have you done? 

"Son: AVe have killed two elks, and as many deer as will be w'anted. 

" Father: Have you shot no turkeys? 

"Son: I shall have also twelve turkeys. 

"Father: Enough, enough." 

The people are now assembled in council. 

" Sachem: Are you here, good friends? 

"Warriors: Yes; we are. 

" Sachem: That is well, you are welcome. Sit down and rest. 

" Warriors: With pleasure, for we are much tired. 

"Sachem: Are you also hungry? 

" Warriors: Yes; maybe we are hungry. 

"Sachem: I know you have gone a great way, so you must be very hungry. We 
shall have meat presently. 

" Warriors: That will do for us. 

"Sachem: Here, you have to eat. Eat all, ye good friends. 

" AVarriors: Yes; we will do our best. Cive us meat. 

' ' Sachem : Do you also want drink? 

"Warriors: Yes; give us drink. This is sweet and good water. We are now well 
satisfied. Thanks. Thanks. 

"Sachem's speech to the warriors: My good friends, all of you, don't take it amis, 
that my son has called you to this place. The Swedes dwell here upon our lands 
and they have many fortresses and liouses for their hal)itation. But they have no 
goods to sell to us. We caij find nothing in their stores that we want and we can 
not trade with them. The question is whether we shall go out and kill all the 
Swedes and destroy them altogether or whether we shall suffer them to remain? 

"This sachem owned the territory on which the city of Wilmington i.s built. The grounds on 
which Fort Christina was built was purchased from him. and on that ground was his wigwam. He 
is sometimes called Matta Horn. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 139 

Therefore, I am jy^lad that you came here, that we may consult together on this sub- 
ject. You chiefs and warriors, what advice do you give? What shall we do with 
the Swedes? They have no cloth — red, blue, or brown. They have no kettles, no 
brass, no lea<l, no guns, no powder. They have nothing to sell us, l)ut the English 
and Dutch have got all sorts of merchandise. 

"Some of the chiefs answer: We are for the Swedes; we have nothing against 
them. 

"Another chief answers: It would be well to kill all the Swedes, for they have 
nothing in their stores for which we can trade with them. 

" The common warriors answer. 

"A common warrior says: Wherefore should we kill all the Swedes and root them 
out of the country? They are in friendship with us. We have no complaint to 
make of them. Presently they will l)ring here a large ship full of all sorts of good 
things. 

"Others answer: You talk well; we common warriors agree with you. Then we 
shall not kill all the Swedes and root them out of the country. 

"Others reply: No; by no means, for the Swedes are good enough, and they will 
shortly have here a large ship full of all sorts of goods. 

"The king's decision: Right so. AYe, native Indians, will love the Swedes and 
the Swedes shall be our good friends. We and the Swedes, and the Dutch, shall 
always trade with each other. We shall not make war upon them and destroj- 
them. This is fixed and certain. Take care to observe it. 

"The whole meeting answers: 

"We all agree it shall be fixed and certain. 

"Now, we are going home. 

"Yes; farewell. 

"Whither are you going? 

"To our plantations. 

"I understand. 

"The maize is now fully ripe. 

"Yes; it is certainly ripe. 

"Now then, fare ye well." 

The most pleasant ijiemories of the Delawares — of their early dealings with the 
whites — is that of the treaty made with William Penn under the spreading elm tree 
at Shackamaxon, on the banks of the Delaware River in 1682. Sacred to the mem- 
ory of the white men, as well as to that of the Delawares, has been the eventual 
treaty resulting from that transaction. In the rotunda of the Capitol at Washington 
can be seen the historical fresco recalling that event. 

When the time arrived at which William Penn and the Indians had agreed to meet 
personally to contirm the treaty of peace and the purchase of the land wliich his 
commissioners had bargained for and the transaction was to be publicly ratified, 
Penn came, accompanied by his friends of both sexes, to the place where Philadel- 
phia now stands. On his arrival he found the chiefs and their people all assembled 
there. They were seen as far as the eye could reach — up the river, down the river, 
and in the forest far beyond— and looked frightful, both on account of their mnnbers 
and their arms. The Quakers were but a handful in comparison with the Indians, 
and were unarmed, but confidence in the justice of their cause prevented dismay ancl 
terror from seizing them. William Penn appeared in his usual clothes, and was dis- 
tinguished only l)y wearing a sky-blue sash of silk network around his waist. He had 
a roll of parchment containing a contirmation of the treaty of ])urchase and amity in 
his hands. One of the sachems, who was the head chief of them, put upon his own 
head a kind of chaplet, in which appeared a small horn. This, as among the primi- 
tive nations and acconling to scriptural language, was an emblem of kingly power, 
and whenever the chief who had the right to wear it put it on it was understood that 
the place was made sacred and the persons of all present inviolable. Upon putting 
on this horn, the Indians threw down their bows atid arrows and seated themselves 
around the cliiefs, in the form of a half moon, upon the ground. The chief sachem 
then announced to William Penn, by means of an interpreter, that the Indians were 
ready to hear him. The treaty was ratified with all due solemnity, luid is known to 
this day as the treaty that never was sworn to and never was broken. 

IMany years after this, or about 1755, when Governor Morris was about to declare 
war with the Delawares and Shawnee, the " Friends" offered cheerfully to con- 
tribute by a voluntary grant a nnich larger portion of their estates and the largest 
tax that a war coulil be exjjected to re(|uire toward the obtaining of peace in the 
same manner as the unhappy experience of the most martial of the neighboring col- 
onies had, after long and bloody wars, proved it nuist at last, if ever, i)e obtained, 
i. e., by just purchase of lands, protection from frauds, and considerate kindness. 



140 MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Their personal efforts and influence with chiefs and with the governor, their wise 
counsel, and generosity did much toward effecting ])acitication of Indian tribes of 
Pennsylvania and Ohio, and the consequential withdrawal of the French from the 
Ohio. 

From "An inquiry into the causes of the alienation of the Delaware and Shawnee 
Indians from the British interests and into the measures taken for recovering their 
friendship," pul)lished in London, 1759, we find: 

"Upon information being made to the governor, in April, 1728, by one Letort, an 
Indian trader, that Manawkyhichon, a Delaware chief, to revenge the death of 
VVequeals^ (or Weekwelev), who had been hanged in the Jerseys the year before, 
Avas endeavoring to engage the Miamis, or Tweektwees, to make war on the English, 
and that the Five Nations had joined with him, it was thought advisable to inquire 
further into this matter. In the meantime it was judged proper that the governor 
should take some notice of the Indians on Susquehannah and Delaware, those people 
generally thinking themselves slighted, as no treaty had been held with them for 
some time. 

''In consequence of this the governor, as soon as he received advice that Captain 
Civility, chief of the Conestogo Indians, was returned with his people from hunting, 
dispatched an express to acquaint those Indians that he would meet them about the 
23d of May at Conestogo, where he desired that the chiefs of all the Indians might 
be present, and that Captain Civility would dispatch messengers to Sassoonan, Ope- 
kasset, and Manawkyhichon, chiefs of the Delawares, who live up the river Susque- 
hannah, to be thei'e. At the time appointed the governor went'and met the chiefs of 
the Conestogoes, the Delaware Indians on Brandywine, the Canawese, and the 
Shawanese Indians. At this conference the governor put them in mind of the 
league of friendship which had long subsisted between them and this government, 
and refreshes their memory by repeating the principal heads of it. After this he 
informs them that he heard the Tweektwees were coming as enemies against this 
country, which he thought must be false, as he had never hurt the Tweektwees. He 
next acquaints them of a late skirmish between eleven foreign Indians and about 
twenty of his people at a place called Mahanatawny; that, upon receiving the news, 
he immediately repaired to the place, but found the Indians gone; that, ujion his 
return, he was informed of two or three furious men having killed three friendly 
Indians and hurt two girls, which grieved him much; that thereupon he liad the 
murderers apprehended and put in prison, and that they should be tried and pun- 
ished as if they had killed white people. He likewise lets them know that, about 
eight months ago, an Englishman was killed by some Indians at the house of John 
Burt in Snake-Town, and desires that they would apprehend the murderers and l>ring 
them to justice. 

"The Indians, in their answer, let the governor know they were well satisfied with 
wdiat he had said, and assure him that what had happened at John Burt's house was 
not done by them, but by one of the Minysinks, another nation, for which reason 
they viin say nothing to it. 

"As the messages which Civility sent to the Delaware chiefs, who lived on Sus- 
quehannah, did not reach them soon enough for them to attend the treaty at Cones- 
togo, the governor desired them to meet him at Philadelphia. Accordingly, a few 
days after, Sassoonan, king of the Delawares, with Opekasset and a few more of his 
principal men, came to Philadelphia, where the governor gave them a hearty wel- 
come, renewed the treaties of friendship which Mr. Penn had made with them, 
acquainted them of the skirniish that had hap})ened betwixt his people and a party 
of Shawanese who came armed and painted for war and were taken for strange 
Indians; informed them of the unhappy accident that had followed and of his caus- 
ing the murderers to be apprehended and put in gaol to be tried and punished as if 
they had killed one of His Majesty's subjects; and, lastly, he condoled with the friends 
of the murdered and comforted them after the Indian manner. 

"In answer to this Sassoonan thanks the governor for the speech he had made, 
declares himself well pleased with what the governor said in relation to the accident 
that had ha))pened to the Indians, and desired that no misunderstan<ling might arise 
on that account, and concluded with saying that in two months he designed to return 
and sjieak more fully. 

"But being told that if he had anything at all upon his mind it was now a jjroper 
time to speak it, that it might be heard by all that company, addressing himself to 
Mr. James Logan,'" he proceeded to say, 'That he was grown old, and was troubled 
to see the Christians settle on lands that the Indians had never been paid for; they 
had settled on his lands, for which he had never received anything; that he is now 
an old man and nuist soon die; that his children may wonder to see all their father's 
lands gone from them without his receiving anything for them; that the Christians 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 141 

now make their settlements very near them, and they shall have no place of their 
own left to live on; that this may occasion a difference between their children and 
us hereafter; and he would willingly prevent any misunderstanding that may 
happen. ' 

"As this speech was addressed to Mr. Logan, he, with the leave of the governor, 
answered: ' That he was no otherwise concerned in the lands of this province than as 
he was entrusted, with other commissioners, by the ])roprietor to manage his affairs 
of property in his absence; that William Penn had made it a rule never to suffer any 
lands to be settled by his people till they were first purchased of the Indians; that 
his commissioners had followed the same rule, and how little reason there was for 
any complaint again.< him or the commissioners he would nf)w make appear.' 

"He said, 'That Sassoonan, who is now present, with divers others of the Indian 
chiefs, about ten years since, having a notion that they had not been fullv jiaid for 
their lands, came to Philadelphia to demand what was due to them; that the busi- 
ness was heard in council, and he then ])rodnced to those Indians a great number of 
deeds, by which their ancestors had fully conveyed and were as fully paid for all 
their lands from Duck Creek to near the Forks of Delaware, and that the Indians 
were then entirely satisfied with what had been shown to them; and the conunis- 
sioners, to put an end to all further claims or demands of that kind, in consideration 
of their journey and trouble, made them a present, in the proprietor's name and 
l)ehalf, upon which they agreed to sign an al)solute release for all those lands and of 
all demands whatsoever upon account of the said purchase.' And exhibiting the 
said instrument of release he desired it might be read, which was done in these words: 
" ' We, iSassoonan, king of the Delaware Indians, and Pokehais, Metashichav, Aiya- 
maikan, Pepawmaman, Ghettypenceman, and Opekasset, chiefs of the said Indians, 
do acknowledge that we have seen and heaid divers deeds of sale read unto us, under 
the hands and seals of the former kings and chiefs of the Delaware Indians, our 
ancestors and predecessors, who were owners of lands between Delaware and 8us- 
quehannah rivers; by which deeds they have granted and conveyed unto William 
Penn, proprietor and governor in chief of the province of Pennsylvania, and to his 
heirs and assigns, all and singular their lands, islands, woods, and waters, situate 
between the said two rivers of Delaware and Susquehaimah, and had received full 
satisfactiim for the same. And we do further acknowledge that we are fully content 
and satisfied with the said grant. And whereas the commissioners, or agents of the 
said William Penn, have been pleased, upon our visit to this government, to l^estow 
on us as a free gift, in the name of the said William Penn, these following goods, 
viz," 2 guns, B strowd-water coats, 6 blankets, 6 Dussel match-coats, and four kettles, 
we, therefore, in gratitude for the said presents, as well in consideration of the sev- 
eral grants made by our ancestors and predecessors, as of the said several goods 
hereinbefore mentioned, the receipt whereof we do hereby acknowledge, do, by these 
presents, for us, our heirs and successors, grant, remise, release, and forever quit- 
claim unto the said William Penn, his heirs and assigns, all the said lands situate 
between the said two rivers of Delaware and Susquehannah, from Duck Creek to the 
mountains on tliis side of Lechaiy, and all our estate, right, title, interest, property, 
claim, and demand whatsoever, in and to the same, or any part thereof; so that 
neither we, nor any of us, nor any jierson or persons, in the l)elialf of any of us, shall, 
or may hereafter, lay any claim to any of the said lands, or in anywise niolest tlie said 
William Penn, his heirs or assigns, or any person claiming by, from, or under him. 
them, or any of them, in the peacealile and (juiet enjoyment of the same. 

" 'In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals, at Philadeliiliia, 
the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hun- 
dred and eighteen. 

" 'Sassoonan (his mark x). 

" 'Pokehais (his mark x). 

" 'Metasukechay (his mark x). 

" 'AvvAMAiKAN (liis mark x). 

" 'Ghe'itvpexceman (his mark x). 

" 'Oi'EKASsirr (his mark x). 

" 'Pepawmaman (his mark x). 

" 'Sealed and delivered (by all but Pokehais and Pepawmaman, who were al)sent) 
in the presence of \V. Keith, Robert Asheton, Sanuiel Preston, Anthony Palmer, 
Jonathan Dickinson, Indian Sam, Son to Kssepenaike, Indian Peter, Pokchais's 
nephew or Aweaykonian, Kachaguesconk or Tol)ey (his mark), Tiissoighecnan (his 
mark), Neeshala|>|iih or .\ndrew (his mark). Sealed and delivered by Pokehais 
and Pepawmaman in the presence of James Logan, Robert Asheton, Clement I'lum- 
sted, David Evans, Ne<lawaway or Oliver, Neeshalappy or .\ndtvw.' 



142 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

"This deed Sassoonan and Opekasset both acknowledged to be true, and that they 
had been paid for all the lands therein mentioned; but Sassoonan said the lands 
beyond these bounds have never been paid for; that these reached no farther than 
a few miles beyond Oley, but that their lands on Tulpyhockin were seated by the 
Christians. 

"Mr. Logan answered that he understood at the time that deed was drawn, and 
ever since, that Lechay hills, or mountains, stretched away from a little below 
Lechay, or the Forks of Delaware, to those hills on Susquehannah that lie about 10 
miles above Pexton. Mr. Farmer said, those hills passed from Lechay a few miles 
above Oley and reached no farther, and that Tulpyhockin lands lay beyond them. 

"Mr. Logan proceeded to say, that whether those lands of Tulpyhockin were 
within or without the bounds mentioned in the deed, he well knew that the Indians, 
some few years since, were seated on them, and that he, with the other commis- 
sioners, would never consent that any settlement should, be made on lands where 
the Indians were seated; that these lands were settled wholly against their minds 
and even without their knowledge. 

"After this, Mr. Logan, by a petition presented to Governor Keith by the Dutch 
settled at Tulpyhockin, goes on to prove, that merely by the authority of Governor 
Keith, 'Those foreigners (namely, the Dutch) had been encouraged to invade these 
lands (at Tulpyhockin) to the manifest injury of the proprietor and to the great 
abuse of the Indians, who, at that very time, were seated there, and had their corn 
destroyed by those peojjle's creatures.' Then applying to the Indians, 'He desired 
that, though these people had seated themselves on the Tulpyhockin lands without 
the comissioners' leave or consent, yet that they would not offer them any violence, 
or injure them, but wait till such time as that matter could be adjusted.' 

"As the governor had examined Civility and the Conestogo (Delaware) Indians 
about the murder that was conunitted at John Burt's, so likewise he inquired of 
these whether they had not heard of that matter and whether the Indians who 
committed the murder belonged to them. They said they had heard of it, but it 
was not done by any of theirs, but by some of the Minissink Indians. The governor 
then asked them where those of that nation lived, and under what chief. To which 
they answered, that the Minissinks lived at the Forks of Susquehannah above 
Mechay(jmy, and that their king's name was Kindassowa. Thus we see that the 
Minissinks are quite a distinct nation from the Northern Delawares, of which Sas- 
soonan was king, and consec[uently no lands of the former could be conveyed away 
by any grant from the latter. 

"As the boundaries between the Indians and the English are so fully ascertained 
in this treaty, it was thought proper to be thus particular. Everything relating to 
land affairs are here so clearly stated, the deed of release so full and explicit, that 
for the future one would imagine no doubts could arise respecting lands; or, should 
any arise, they might easily be solved. By what is here said, it appears plain that 
the Delaware Indians can have no pretentions to the lands lying between Susque- 
hannah and Delaware, from Duck Creek to the Lechay Hills below the Forks of 
Delaware; and that the English at that time had no right or pretensions, under 
Indian titles, to any lands north of the said Lechay Hills; that all the deeds formerly 
given by the Indians were carefully examined, and the extent of the lands therein 
granted was fully ascertained, and all included in the deed of 1718. 

"With respect to this writing, it is to be observed that, as the Five Nations claimed 
no right to the lands on Delaware, they could by the above instrument convey none. 
They only claimed the lands on Susiiuehannah, for which reason they say in the 
above treaty, ' That if Civility at Conestogo should attempt to make a sale of any 
lands to us or any of our neighbors they must let us know that he hath no power to 
do so, and that if he does anything of the kind they, the Indians, will utterly disown 
him.' But nothing like this is said of the Delawares, though it was well known to 
the Five Nations that the Delawares undertook to sell lands to the English and had 
but a short time before sold the Tulpyhockin lands. But admitting the Five Nations 
had a right, yet can it be supposed they would release that right without a consid- 
eration? The extent of land taken in l)y the last instrument of writing is evidently 
double that descriln'd in the first deed, yet for this farther grant there is no consid- 
eration ])aid. 

"Indeed the jtroprietor himself did not seem to think he had a right to these lands 
without a release from the Delawares. He had, therefore, in 1737, a meeting with 
Monokykickan, Lapi)awinzoe, Tishekunk, and Nutimus, chiefs of the Delaware 
Indians, at which he prevailecl with them to sign a release, by means of which he 
thought he nnght gain what he wanted. We have no minutes of that conference or 
treaty puljlished, but in the preamble of the release then granted it is said ' That Tishe- 
kunk and Nutimus had, about three years before, begun a treaty at Durham with 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE nvTDlANS. 143 

John and Thomas Penn; that from thence another meeting was appointed to be at 
Penj^bury the next sprins, to whit-h tliey repaired with I^apj^awinzoe and several 
other of the Delaware Indians: that at this meeting several deeds were shewed to 
them for several tracts of land which their forefathers had more than fifty years ago 
sold to William Penn: and, in i)articular, onedeed from .Maykeerikkisho, Sayhoppey, 
and Taughhanghsey, the chiefs or kings of the northern Indians on Delaware, who, 
for a certain qnantity of goods, had granted to William Penn a tract of land begin- 
ning on a line drawn from a certain sprnce tree on tlie river Delaware by a west- 
northwest conrse to Neshameny Creek; from thence back into the woods as far as a 
man conld go in a day and a half, and boimded on the west by Ni'shameny, or the 
most westerly branch thereof, so far as the said Ijranch doth extend, and from thence 

by a line to the utmost extent of the day and a lialf's walk, and from thence 

'■ — to the aforesaid river Delaware, and so down the courses of the river to the 

first-mentioned s])ruie tree; and that this ajipeared to be true by William Biles and 
Joseph A\'ood, who, upon their afiirmation, did declare that they well remembered 
the treaty held by the agents of William Penn and those Indians;" that some of the 
old men being then absent they requested of INIessrs. John and Thomas Penn more 
time to consult with their people concerning the same, which rec]uest being granted, 
tliey, after more than two years since the tieaty at Pensbury, were now come to 
Philadelphia with their chief jNIonokyhickan and several other old men, and upon a 
former treat} held upon the same subject, acknowledge themselves satisfied that the 
above-described tract was granted by the persons above mentioned, for which reason 
they, the said Monokyhickan, Lappawinzoe, Tishekunk, and Xutimus, agi'ee to 
release to the proprietors all right to that tract, and desire that it may be walked, 
traveled, or gone over by persons appointed for that purpose. 

"It will, no doubt, appear strange that no notice is taken of the deed of 1718, and 
that Sassoonan, the Delaware king with whom the treaty of 1728 was held, though 
still alive was not present at any of these meetings; but the reason was })lain: The 
deed of 1718 fixed the boundaries so certain that no advantage could be taken of it, 
and had Sassoonan been there he might have obstructed their measures. For, had 
he doubted there being a deed he might have objected that the evidence of persons 
declaring that they remembered a treaty's being held (for that is all that William 
Biles and Joseph Wood say) did not prove that a deed was granted, and he might 
have called upon them to prove it regularly by the evidence of those who were wit- 
nesses to the execution of it. Or, had he admitted the deed, he might have insisted 
that it was fully considered at the treaty in 1718, and that the tract therein described 
had already been walked out, and was included in the deed then granted. And how 
these objections would have been answered is hard to say. He would, no doubt, 
have put them in mind that their late purchase of lands on Tulpyhockin was a fur- 
ther confirmation on their part of the boundaries agreed on in the deed of 1718, 
because thereby the proprietors admitted that the Oley Hills, which are a continua- 
tion of the Lechay Hills, was the northernmost extent of any claim the proprietors 
could make under any former Indian purchases. 

"It was therefore necessary in order that things might be carried on quietly that 
the deed of 1718 should be passed over in silence and that Sassoonan should not be 
present nor any of those who signed that deed. If it be asked what advantage could 
be gained by getting the deed of 1686 confirmed, we shall easily see by an account 
of the walk and of the advantage taken of the blanks in the deed of release. The 
account of the walk shall be given in the words of the persons who were eyewitnesses, 
as written and signed l^v them. 

"The relation which Thomas Furniss, saddler, gives concerning the day and a 
half's walk made between the proprietors of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Indians 
by James Yeates and Edward INIarshall. 

" 'At the time of the walk I was a dweller at Xewton and a near neighbor to James 
Yeates. My situation gave James Yeates an easy ojuKirtunity of acquainting me 
with the time of setting out, as it did me of hearing the different sentiments of the 
neighborhood concerning the walk, some alleging it was to be made by the river, 
others that it was to be gone ujion a straight line from somewhere in Wrightstown, 
opposite to a spruce tree ujion the river's Ijank, said to be a boundary to a former 
purchase. When the walkers and the comi)any started I was a little behind, but 
was informed they proceeded from a chestnut tree near the turning out of the road 
from Durham road to John Chapman's, and, being on hor.«eback, overtook them 
before they reached Buckingham and kei)t comi)anv for some distance beyond the blue 



" Query: Does the reinemboring- thnt there was a treaty prove the exeinition of a deed ut that treaty? 
.losepli Wood's name is set as an evidence in that paper produeed as a copy of the deed of lt>8(i, wliy 
then did lie not prove there was siicli a sale made vr deed given'.' 



144 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

mountains, though not quite to the end of the journey. Two Indians attended whom 
I considered as deputies appointed by the Delaware Nation, to see the walk honestly 
performed. One of them repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction theiewith. The 
first day of the walk, before we reached Durham Creek, where we dined in the 
meadows of one Wilson, an Indian trader, the Indian said the walk was to have been 
made up the river, and, complaining of the unfitness of his shoepacks for traveling, 
said he expected Thomas Penn would have made him a present of some shoes. After 
this some of us that had horses walked and let the Indians ride by turns, yet in the 
afternoon of the same day, and some hours before sunset, the Indians left us, having 
often called to Marshall that afternoon and forbid him to run. 

" 'At parting they appeared dissatisfied, and said they would go no farther with us, 
for, as they saw the walkers would pass all the good land, they did not care how far 
or where we went to. It was said we traveled twelve hours the first day, and, it 
being in the latter end of Se])tember or beginning of October, to complete the time 
were obliged to walk in the twilight. Timothy Smith, then sheriff of Bucks, held 
his watch in his hand for some minutes before we stopped, and the walkers having 
a piece of rising ground to ascend, he called out to them, telling the minutes behind 
and bid them pull up, which they did so briskly that, inmiediately upon his saying 
the time was out, Marshall clasjjed his arms about a saplin to support himself, and 
thereupon the sheriff asking him what was the matter, he said he was almost gone, 
and that if he had proceeded a few poles further he must have fallen. We lodged in 
the woods that night and heard the shouting of the Indians at a cantico, which they 
were said to hold that evening in a town hard by. Next morning the Indians were 
sent to to know if they would accompany us any farther, but they declined it, 
although I l)elie\'e some of them came to us before we started and drank a dram in 
the com})any and then straggled off a!)()ut their hunting or some other amusement. 
In our return we came through this Indian town or plantation, Timothy Smith and 
myself riding 40 yards more or less, before the company, and as we a]iproached 
within about 150 paces of the town, the woods being open, we saw an Indian take a 
gun in his hand and advancing toward us some distance placed himself behind a log 
that laid bj' our way. Timothy, observing his motions, and being somewhat sur- 
prised, as I apprehended, looked at me and asked what I thought that Indian meant. 
I said I hoi)ed no harm, and that 1 tiiought it best to keep on, which the Indian see- 
ing, arose and walked before us to the settlement. 

" 'I think Timothy Smith was surjirised, as I well remember I was, through a con- 
sciousness that the Indians were dissatisfied with the walk, a thing that the whole 
company seemed to be sensible of, and upon the way, in our return home, frequently 
expressed themselves to that purjiose. And indeed tl:e unfairness practiced in the 
walk, both in regard to the way, where, and manner how it was performed, and the 
dissatisfaction of the Indians concerning it, were the common subjects of conversation 
in our neighborhood for some consideral)ie time after it was done. When this walk 
was performed I was a young man in the ])rime of life; the novelty of -the thing 
inclined me to be a spectator, and as I had been brought up most of my time in Burl- 
ington, the whole tran.saction to me was a series of occurrences almost entirely new, 
and which, therefore, I apprehend, made the more strong and lasting impressions on 
my memory.' " (Thomas Furniss. ) 

"Joseph Knowles's account of the said walk is as follows: 

"'June 30, 1757. I, Joseph Knowles, living with Timothy Smith at the time of 
the day and half's walk with the Indians (Timothy Smith, then sheriff for Bucks 
County), do say that I went some time l)efore to carry the chain and helj) to clear a 
road, as directed by my uncle, Timothy Smith. When the walk was ]>erf(>i-med, I 
was then present and carried provisions, liquors, and bedding. About suni'ising we 
set out from John Chapman's corner at ^^'rightstown and traveletl until we came to 
the Forks of Delaware. As near as I can remember was about one of the clock the 
same day. The Indians then l)egan to look sullen and murmured that the men 
walked so fast, and several times that afternoon called out and said to them. You 
run; that's not fair; you was to walk. The men appointed to walk paid no regard 
to the Indians, but were urged by Timothy Smith and the rest of the proprietor's 
]iarty to proceed until the sun was down. We were near the Indian town in the 
Forks. Tlie Indians denied us going to the town on excuse of a cantico. We lodged 
in the woods that night. Next morning being dull, rainy weather, we set out by the 
watches, and two of the three Indians that walked the day before came and trav- 
eled with us about 2 or Smiles and then left us, being very nuich dissatisfied, and 
we proceeded by the watches until noon. The above 1 am willing to (jualify to any 
time when desired. Witness my hand the day and year above said.'" (Jos. 
Knowles.) 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 145 

"Having by means of the al)ove walk <ione about ;>0 niilef< beyond tin* Lecliay 
Hills, which were so solemnly agreed upon in 171S and 1728 to ))e the boundaries, it 
now remained to draw the line from the end of the walk to the river Delaware. We 
have seen above there was a blank left for the course of this line. Taking the 
advantage, therefore, of this blank, instead of running by the nt-arest course to the 
river, or by an east southeast course, which would have been i)arallel to the line 
from which they set out, they ran by a northeast course for above a hundred miles 
across the country to near the Creek Lechawachsein, and took in the best of the 
land in the Forks, all the Minisinks, etc. Thus a pretense was gained for claiming 
the Ian 1 in the Forks without paying anything for it. r>ut the accomplishment of 
this design lost us the friendship of tlie Indians and laid the foundation of our pres- 
ent troubles, and will, it is to 1)e feared, in the end cost the Proprietaries very dear." 

Before the declaration of war and before the l)reaking off of negotiations between 
the courts of France and England the English ministry formed the plan of assailing 
the French in America on all sides at once and repelling them by one bold push 
from all their encroachments. A provincial army was to advance on Acadia, a sec- 
ond was to attack Crown Point, and a third Niagara, while tlu^ two retriments whi('h 
had lately arrived in Virginia under (ieneral Hraddock, aided by a strong body of 
provincials, were to dislodge the French from their newly built fort of Du <2"t'*^'ie. 
To Braddock was assigned the chief command of all the Ib-itish forces in .\merica. 

Braddock made the necessary militaiy preparations, obtained as far as jiracticable 
the indispensal>le transportations and supplies, and early in June, 1755, almndoned 
civilization and advanced into the trackless forests. Instead of the sound of the 
nmsket it was of the axe felling the primeval forest that was heard. He was accom- 
panied by Washington, by whose advice he, when his obstinacy permitted, profited. 
After a most laborious march, on the 8th of July the advanced body of Braddock's 
army reached the ^lonongahela, at a point not far distant from Foi-t Du Quesne. 

Scouts an<l Indian runners had l)rought the tidings of Braddock's approach to the 
French at the fort. In the adjacent forests were the bark lodges of the Indians, whom 
the French had collected from far and near. Delawares, Shawnees, and their allies, 
of whom about 630 took part in the battle. There were about 75 French regulars 
and b50 Canadians. 

The Indian scouts, knowing every foot of the ground, selected a place for the attack 
which nature had prepared better perhaps than any corps of engineers could have 
arranged by artifii'ial ditches or eml)ankments. On either side of the road lay a deep 
ravine or ditch, running ])arallel with the road and covered with heavy vines and 
trees. Beyond these were hills and rocks and other ravines, and in this natural 
ambuscade' was where the Indians and French concealed themselves to give Brad- 
dock a reception before he arrrived at the fort. 

Not a man or officer of the British army ever dreamed of these ravines and never 
saw them (hiring the con)bat, and it was only long after the disastrous action, when 
reason resumed its sway and the beaten, driven mob of fugitives considered how 
pitilessly they were pelted and mowed down by a terrible but unseen lire, they con- 
cluded their wily foe must have fired from hidden ravines. 

Bra<ldock had exalted courage but no common sense; he was deaf to the judicious 
counsel of his officers; he neglected to throw out scouts in advance and pressed 
blindly forward to meet his fate. It is unnecessary to give a detailed account of the 
battle that followed, or rather the slaughter of the heroic English, who deserved a 
better fate. The unequal contest lasted three hours, when the survivors fled across 
the Monongahela. It was a disgraceful stampede. 

Braddock saw that all was lost and ordered a retreat, but had scarcely done so 
when a bullet pierced his lungs. It is alleged that the shot was fired by one of his 
own men, but this statement is without ])roof. The retreat soon turned into a rout, 
and all who remained dashed pellmell through the river to the opposite shore, 
abandoning the wounded, the cannon, and all the baggage and pajjcrs to the mercy 
of the Indians. P.eaujeau, the French commander, had fallen early in the conflict. 

Braddock's wound proved mortal; helingeri'd but a short time. The loss of the 
French was slight; of the regulars there were but four killed or wounded, and all 
the Canadians returned to the fort unhurt excejit five. 

According to Parkman, of the 8() P>ritish otiicers only 1'3 remained mihurt, and of 
the 1,200 soldiers who crossed the Monongahela more than 700 were killed or 
wounded. Other writers have placed the lunnber of killecl and womided at !)14. 

The Delaware Indians, perha])s more than any other tribe, are responsible for 
Braddock's defeat, although their sympathy was extended to many of the settlers of 
Pennsyhania, and (^"I'en Alaquita ( .\-le-par-(|na) lent her aid to Washington and 
the colonists. Cashuwayon, or Captain Newcastle, and Fairfax, her sons, were 
Washington's guides and e.scorts, but Shingiss, the sachem of the Delawares. Captain 

S. Doc. If) 10 



14(l MEMOKIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Pipe of tlie Wolf tnl)e or clan, White Eyes and Beaver of the Tnrtle clan, Ka-te-us- 
kund. Kill Bnck, and Wingenond, a medicine man of great renown, and others were 
prejudiced against the British because of the "Long Walk." Besides, the French 
had promised them that thej^ would evacuate their country as soon as the English 
Mere defeated. 

It is not in the nature of the Indians to remain quiet in the midst of war; by the 
ignominious and disastrous defeat of Braddock the prestige of the English was lost 
for the time and the Western Indians raised their tomahawks with one accord against 
the defeated English. 

In November, 1758, John Forbes made another attack on Fort DuQuesne. His 
advance of 800 men under Major Grant was attacked by the French and Indians on 
both sides of the hill, which now bears his name and is situated right in the center 
of the city of Pittsliurg. Tliat his force was saved from utter annihilation by the 
stand made by the provincial troops is a well-known matter of history and need not 
be dwelt on here. 

A most timely visit just at this time of the Moravian missionary, C. Frederick 
Post, to the Delaware and Shawnee chiefs between DuQuesne and Beaver, where 
he saw Shingiss, Beaver, Killbuck, Kuckquetackton, Pisquetumen, Kateuskund, and 
Delaware George, who seemed as nuich surprised as pleased at Post's representa- 
tions, and all agreed that if they had known the feelings and good intentions the 
British had towar'd them they never would have taken up the hatchet against them. 

This decision completed the demoralization of the French, so that they abandoned 
their fort, after setting lire to it, and retreated to Canada. 

The Indians made treaties with Forbes and remained at peace until fre.sh causes 
for hostilities arose and they were again fired up to avenge the wrongs that had been 
perpetrated on them. 

Among these wrongs is the wholesale massacring by the settlers of Indians who 
professed the Christian faith, on three different occasions, and another is the burn- 
ing of an aged Delaware chief,'- who, like the Christian Indians, had been a friend 
to the settlers. Such memories as these could not be cherished by people who had 
learned from tradition that injury should be repaid with injury and revenge should 
be visited upon those who betrayed you, and the consequence was that peace was 
not long lasting. 

The general peace concluded between Great Britain, France, and Spain in the year 
1762, although viewed in different lights by persons variously affected in the mother 
country, was nevertheless universally considered a happy event in America. 

" Unhapi^ily, however, we were disappointed in this expectation. Our danger 
arose from that very quarter in which we imagined ourselves in the most perfect 
security, and just at the time when we concluded the Indians to be entirely awed 
and almost subjected by our power, they suddenly fell upon the frontiers of our most 
valuable settlements and upon all our outlying forts with such unanimity in the 
design and with such savage fury in the attack as we had not experienced, even in 
the hottest times of any former war." (From Annual Register, 176;>. ) 

The Delawares, Shawnee, and other Ohio tribes took the lead in this war, and 
seem to have begun it rathei" too precipitately, before the other tribes in confederacy 
with them were ready for action. Many forts fell into their hands. The frontiers 
of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia were overrun with Indians, who carried on 
war in their usual ferocious manner. 

Fort Pitt remained all this while in a most critical situation; no account could be 
obtained of the garrison nor any relief sent to it but by a long and tedious land march 
of near 200 miles beyond the settlements, and through those dangerous passes where 
the fate of BraddocR and others still rise on the imagination. Colonel Bouquet was 
appointed to march to the relief of this fort with a large (juantity of stores and pro- 
visions, escorted by the shattered remains of the Forty-second and Seventy-seventh 
Regiments, lately returned in a dismal condition from the West Indies, and far from 
being recovered of their fatigue at the siege of the Ilavannah. 

Early orders had been given to collect provisions on the frontiers of Pennsylvania, 
but such was the consternation of the inhal)itants that no effort was made to obey 
the orders, nor did the people furnish recruits, though their lives depended upon the 
result of the expedition. 

Colonel Boucjuet was a great contrast to the brave, but incompetent, Braddock. 
He had courage united with prudence, enjoyed the confidence of his soldiers and 
deserved it, and was studious of their comfort, watchful over their safety. The 
Indians disjjlayed soldierly ([ualities, skill, and indomitable courage. 

But F)OU(]uet's disci})lined forces finally (ivercame, after a series of hard-fought 
engagements, tlie enemy; the latter finally retreated to their remote settlements. 

Bou(iuet sui)plied Fort I'itt and other places with provisions, ammunition, and 
stores, and ended the campaign for that season. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 147 

In 1764 Cokmel Bouquet uuide a second eanipaign equally pers^istent and vigorous; 
the Indians sued for peace. 

The arni\' encamped on the Muskingum, and two men who had been dispatched 
by Colonel Bouquet from Fort Pitt with letters returned and rejjorted "that within 
a'few miles of this jjlai'e they had l)een made i)risoners by the Delawares and carried 
to one of their towns, 1(3 miles from hence, where they were kept till the savages, 
knowing of the arrival of the army here, set them at liberty, ordering them to 
acquaint the colonel that the headmen of the Delawares and Shawanese were coming 
as soon as possible to treat of peace with him." 

Negotiations culminated in the arrangement of a meeting. The meeting was held; 
the Indians ]»resent were: ."^enecas, Kiyashuta, chief, with 15 warriors; Delawares, 
Custaloga, chief of the Wolf trilje, BeaVer, chief of the Turkey tribe, with 20 war- 
riors; t^hawanese, Keissinantchtha, and H warriors. 

The speakers were Kiyashuta, Turtle-heart, Custaloga, and Beaver. A treaty was 
entered into and peace for a time secured. All jtrisoners were delivered up held by 
the Indians: most im)mi)tly by the Delawares. The affecting scenes attending this 
surrender I have described elsewhere in this book. 



CHAPTER III. 

When the Revolutionary war broke out, in 177o, the Delawares were divided in 
opinion as to whom to assist. Great pressure was brought to bear on them by the 
British, who made many promises to secure their assistance against the Colonists, 
but Shingiss, Captain White Eyes, Win ge nond, and Killbuck were friendly to the 
Colonies, and took sides against the British. Captain White Eyes soon succeeded 
vShingiss as head sachem. After that he and his followers remained loyal to the 
Colonies, but Captain Pipe, of the Wolf clan, and his adherents took sides with the 
British. 

It might be interesting here to relate Heckewelder's observations about the rivalry 
between Captain White Eyes and Captain Pi])e: 

"At the time of the Revolutionary war I witnessed a curious scene of diplomatic- 
maneuvers between two great men of the Delaware Nation, both of whom had in 
their time signalized themselves as brave and courageous men and had actiuired the 
character of two great war chiefs. The war which I speak of, which had but lately 
begun, had made it necessary for the Indians to consult their present and future 
.«afety. Ca})tain White P^yes, of the Turtle tribe, who was placed at the head of his 
nation, had its welfare much at heart. lie was in favor of their following the advice 
given them by the American Congress, which was to remain neutral and not to med- 
dle in the quarrel between the Americans and the parent country. He advised his 
people, therefore, to remain in friendship with both sides, and not to take up arms 
against either, as it might bring them into trouble, and, perhaps in the end effect 
their ruin. 

"On the other hand. Captain Pipe, of the Wolf tribe, who resided at the distance 
of 15 miles, where he had his council fire, was of a different opinion, and leaned on 
the side of the Britisli. He was an artful, ambitious man, yet not deficient in great- 
ness of mind, as 1 have shown in a preceding chapter. But his head at that time 
was full of the wrongs which the Indians had suffered from the Americans from 
their first coming into the country. His soul panted for revenge, and he was glad 
to seize the opportunity that now offered. He professed his readiness to join 
in proper measures to save the nation, but not such measures as his antagonist 
proposed. What his real ol)ject was he did not openly declare, but i)rivately 
endeavored to counteract all that was done and proposed by the other. White 
Eyes, however, was a sensible, upright man, and never was deficient in means to 
support his own measures and extricate himself fron> the snares with which he was 
on all sides surrounded V)y Captain Pipe. Thus they went on for ujiward of two 
years, Pii)e working clandestinely and keejjing his spies continually on the watch 
iipon the other, while White Eyes acted openly and publicly, as though he knew 
nothing of what was machinating against him. 

"At last a circumstance took place which apparently justified Captain Pipe in the 
measures he wished to pursue. In March, 177S, a numl)er of white people, of those 
whom we call Tories, among whom were McKec, I'.lliott, (iirty, and several others, 
having escai)ed from I'ittsburg, told the Indians wherever they came 'that they 
must arm and be off innnediately and kill the .\mericans wherever they found them, 
for they had determinetl to destroy all the Indians and i)ossess themselves of their 
country.' White Eyes, not believing what these men sai<l, advised his i>eoi>le to 



148 MEMORIAL OF THK DELAWARE INDIANS. 

remain (juiet, for this report could not be true. Pipe, on the contrary, called his 
men together, and in a speech which he addressed to them pronounced every man 
an enemy to his country who endeavored to dissuade them from going out against 
the Americans, and said that all such ought to be put to death. Captain White Eyes 
was not disconcerted. He immediately assembled his warriors and told them ' that if 
they meant in earnest to go out, as he oljserved some of them were preiiaring to do, 
they should not go without him. He had taken peace measures in order to save the 
nation from utter destruction. But if they believed that he was in the wrong and 
gave more credence to vagabond fugitives, whom he knew to be such, than to him- 
self, who was best acquainted with the real state of things; if they had determined 
to follow their advice and go out against the Americans, he would go out with them; 
he would lead them on, place himself in the front, and be the first who should fall. 
They only had to determine on what they meant to do, for his own mind was fully 
made up not to survive his nation, and he would not spend the remainder of his mis- 
erable life in bewailing the total destruction of a brave people who deserved a better 
fate.' 

"This spirited and at the same time pathetic speech of Captain White Eyes 
made such an impression on the minds of the audience that they unanimously 
declared that they would obey his orders, and listen to no person but himself, either 
white or of their own color. Indeed, there was too much force, too much majesty in 
this address to be resisted; when this was reported to Pipe by his emissaries, he was 
absolutely confounded, and knew not what to do. A few days afterwards, the 
council of the Delaware Nation received the most friendly and flattering messages 
from the conmiandant and Indian agent at Pittsburg, cautioning them ' not to listen to 
those worthless men who had ran off from them in the night, and to be assured of 
the steady friendship of the Government of the United States.' Pipe was so put to 
the blush, and took this matter so much to heart, that he soon after threw off the 
mask, permitted his men to go out and murder the Americans, and afterwards went 
off with them to Sandusky, under the protection of the British Government. We 
have seen in a former chapter that he afterwards saw how impolitic his conduct had 
been and probably wished to retrace his steps, but it was too late. He had suffered 
himself to be misled by his passions, excited by the reinendjrance of former wrongs, 
and thus was betrayed into his injudicious conduct. Perhaps also his jealousy of 
Captain White Eyes, whose superiority his proud mind could not bear, did not in a 
small degree contribute to it. Pipe was certainly a great man, but White Eyes was, 
in my opinion, the greatest of the two. I was present when he made the speech 
which I have related, and never shall forget the im})ression it made upon me." 

In the Journals of the Continental Congress of Saturday, December 16, 1776, is the 
ffdlowing: 

"Captain White ICyes, a Delaware chief, who came down with the commissioners 
for Indian affairs in the middle dei^artment, being introduced to Congress, the Presi- 
dent addressed him in the following manner: 

" 'Brother Cajitain \Vhite Eyes, we are glad to see you and we bid you welcome to 
this council fire, kindled fur all the Cnited Colonies. 

" ' We have heard of your friendship for your brethren, the white people, and how 
useful you have been in preserving peace and harmony between your nation and us, 
and we thank you for those services. 

"'We are pleased that the Delawares intend to embrace Christianity. We will 
send you, according to your desire, a minister and a schoolmaster to instruct you in 
the principles of religion and other parts of useful knowledge. 

" ' We shall be happy in imjiroving every opportunity that shall offer for convincing 
your nation and all other nations of Indians of our friendly disposition toward them. 

"'Before you leave this city we will give j'ou some particular testimony of our 
regard for you.' " * * * 

The Journals of the Continental Congress for Wednesday, April 10, 1776, contain 
the following: 

"The committee to whom the report on Indian affairs in the middle department 
and the petition of Captain White Eyes were referred brought in their report, which 
was taken into consideration; whereup(m, 

" J\<'K()h><'d, That the conuuissioners for Indian affairs in the middle department, 
or any one of them, be desired to emi)loy, for rea-onable salaries, a minister of the 
gospel to reside among the Delaware Indians and instruct them in the Christian 
religion; a schoohnaster to teach their youth reading, writing, and arithmetic; also a 
blacksmith to do the work of the Indians in the middle department. * * * 

" Res-o/red, That it be referred to Capt. (ieorge Morgan, Eneas McKay, esq., and 
(^apt. John Neville to adjust and determine all matters of difference between Coquat- 
aginta, or Captain White Eyes, and Messrs. Bernard Grantz and IMichael Grantz; 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 149 

and that the arbitrators, in case either of the parties to whom it is recomrn ended to 
submit to their award shall refuse to abide thereby, report the reasons of such 
refusal, with a state of the case and other matters they shall think fit, to Congress. 

"That disputes which shall arise between any of the white people and the Indians 
in their dealino;s (if the latter will consent) be determined by arbitrators, chosen, 
one by each of the parties and another by the commissioners for Indian affairs, or 
when they are absent by the agent in the department where the Indian i>arty 
resides. * * * 

"■ RrxoJrcd, That the sum of §300 be presented to Cai)tain White Eyes. 

''Rev lived, That George Morgan, esq., the a<:ent for Indian affairs in the middle 
department, be empowered to purchase for C'aptain White Eyes, two horses with 
two saddles and bridles, and that the treasurers be directed to pay to one said 
George Morgan, a sum not exceeding $100 for defraying the exjienses thereof. 

' 'Resolved, That the following speech be delivered to ( 'ai)taiu White Eyes to-morrow 
morning: 

" 'Brother Captain White Eyes: We have not been unmindful of our promises 
made to you and your nation the 16th of December. We now thank you for your 
speech to us on the 2d of last month. 

" 'Brothers, the Delawares: At the council fire at Pittsburg last fall, and since by 
our brother Captain White Eyes, who hath been all the winter with us, you requested 
our assistance to promote peace and useful knowledge among you, particularly the 
knowledge of the Christian religion. We rejoice, brothers, to find you thus dis- 
posed, and will, as early as we can, provide a suitable minister and schoolmaster, 
and a sober man to instruct you in agriculture. These things we agree to do, broth- 
ers, at your request, and to convince you that we wish to advance your happiness, 
and that there may be a lasting union between us, and that, as you express it, we 
may become one people. The introdut-tion of useful arts among you will be effected, 
we apprehend, by encouraging handii'raftsmen to settle and reside in your country. 
The method of doing this must be left to your own discretion. 

" 'Brothers, we desire you will make it known among all the Indian nations to 
the westward that we are determined to cultivate peace and friendship with them, 
and we will endeavor, by making the best regulations in our power, to prevent any 
of our people wronging them in any manner or taking their lands; that w'e will 
strive to put the trade between us on such a footing as will secure the peace and ))ro- 
mote the interest of all i)arties, and we expect that all the wise men of every Indian 
nation will use their infiuence for the same purpose. * * * 

"'Brother Captain White Eyes, we desire you will inform your nation, your 
uncles, the Six Nations, and Wyandots, your grand children, the Shawnees, and all 
the other nations what you have seen and heard among us, and exhort them to keep 
fast hold of the covenant chain of friendship which we have so lately repaired and 
strengthened. As you are now about to depart we present you with some money to 
buy clothes and necessaries and pay your expenses, and we wish you a good journey, 
and bid you farewell." ' 

On the next day, Thursday, April 11, 1776, Captain AVhite Eyes'^ was called in, 
the speech delivered to him, and the money paid. 

In Heckewelder's narrative is an account of the death of Cai)tain White Eyes. 

"Captain White Eyes, who had hitherto been so indefatigable in preserving the 
nation at peace, had, soon after the disturbance caused by McKee and ])arty, retired 
to Pittsburg for the purpo.se of being nearer to the Indian agent, and take his advice 
as circumstances might require, that the nation might, if possible, l)e prevented from 
being dragged into the war. This chief had a strong desire that his nation might 
become a civilized people. A retrospect of the change that had already taken i>hice 
in the Christian Indians, who employed themselves principally in agricultural pur- 
suits, and some even being mechanics, gave him the best hoj)es of the practicability 
of the measure; a lively correspondence, therefore, had for a long time been kept up 
between this Indian agent and the Delaware chiefs and council on the subject, when 
nothing appeared to him wanting, to carry the measure into effect, but a peace, the 
war then being the obstacle to seeing his nation happy; he became the more anxious 
to preserve his nation quiet, until a general peace shoulil take place; he, however, 
did not live to see that day, for while accompanying (Jeneral M'Intosh's army to 
Tuscorawas, where a fort was to be built for the ]irotection of the peaceable Indians 
and frontier settlers, he took the smallpox and die<l. 

" The<lcath of this great and useful man was .severally lamented by and a great loss 
to the nation; although his andjitious and pf)litical o])ponent, Ca])tain Pipe," with an 
air of projdiecy, uttered 'That thetireat Sjjirit had i)rol)al)ly i»ut him out of the way 
that the nation might be saved,' it was not so considered by the faithful part. I lis 
■death was, according to Indian custom, made known to all the surrounding nations. 



150 MEMORIAL OF THE DEL AWAKE INDIANS. 

even at some hundred miles distance, who all in due time condoled the nation on 
the loss." 

It was due to Captain White Eyes's efforts that the United States entered into a 
treaty with the Delaware Indians on September 17, 1778, artit'le 6 of which is as 
follows: 

"Art. 6. Whereas the enemies of the United States have endeavored by every 
artifice in their power to possess the Indians in general with an opinion that it is the 
design of the States aforesaid to extirpate the Indians and take possession of their 
country, to obviate such false suggestion the United States do engage to guarantee 
to the aforesaid nation of the Dela wares and their heirs all their territorial rights 
in the fullest and most ample manner as it hath been bounded by former treaties 
as long as they, the said Delaware Nation, shall abide by and hold fast the chain of 
friendship now entered into. And it is further agreed on between the contracting 
parties, should it for the future be found conducive for the mutual interest of both 
parties, to invite any other tribes who have been friends to the interest of the United 
States to join the present confederation and to form a State, whereof the Delaware 
Nation shall be the head, and have a representation in Congress: Provided, Nothing 
contained in this article to be considered as conclusive until it meets the approbation 
of Congress. And it is also the intent and meaning of this article that no protection 
or countenance shall be afforded to any w'ho are at present our enemies by which 
they might escape the punishment they deserve." 

The ambition of Captain White Eyes that the fourteenth State in the Union should 
be an Indian State with the Delaware Nation at its head was never realized, for 
after his death Captain Pipe's influence prevailed, and many of the Delawares who 
had been followers of White Eyes listened to the counsel of Pipe and warred against 
the Americans. In consequence of this Col. David Williamson conducted an expe- 
dition against the Delawares and other Indians and, in 1782, massacred in cold blood 
over 90 Christian Indians at Gnadenhutten, Ohio,^^ but at this time met none of 
the Delaware and Shawnee warriors. 

In June of the same year Colonel Crawford, at the head of an army of several hun- 
dred American soldiers, marched against the Delawares, who were then located on the 
Sandusky. Thej^ met the Delawares and were defeated. Colonel Crawford and 
others were taken prisoners and Crawford was burned at the stake, as a revenge for 
the murder of the Christian Indians by Colonel Williamson. Accounts of this are 
given by so many historians that I will not attempt to go into the details here. 

The next event of any importance following the expedition of Crawford was Gen- 
eral St. Clair's expedition against the Miami, Delawares, Shawnee, and Wyandot, 
which occurred in 1791. General St. Clair, it is claimed, went into battle with only 
1,400 men, although his force was known to be almost as l^rge again. 

The following is an account of the battle from Roosevelt's "Winning of the West:" 

"On November 4 the men were under arms, as usual, by dawn, St. Clair intend- 
ing to tln-ow^ up intrenchments and then make a forced march in light order against 
the Indian towns. But he was forestalled. Soon after sunrise, just as the men 
were disuiissed from parade, a sudden assault was made upon the militia, who lay 
unprotected beyond the creek. The unexpectedness and fury of the onset, and 
heavy firing, and the appalling whoops and yells of the throngs of painted savages 
threw the militia into disorder. After a few moments' resistance they broke and 
fled in wild panic to the camp of the regulars, among whom they drove in a fright- 
ened herd, spreading dismay and confusion. 

"The drums beat, and the troops sjirang to arms as soon as they heard the heavy 
firing at the front, and their volleys, for a moment, checked the onrush of the i)lumed 
warriors. Put the check availed notliing. The braves filed off to one side and the 
other, completely surrounded the camj), killed or drove in the guards and pickets, 
and then advanced close to the main lines. 

"A furious battle followed. After the first onset the Indians fought in silence, nO' 
sound coming from them save the incessant rattle of their fire, as they crept from 
log to log, from tree to tree, ever closer and closer. The soldiers stood in close order 
in the open; their musketry aud artillery fire made a tremendous noise, but did 
little damage to a foe they could hardly see. Now and then, through the hanging 
smoke, terrible figures flitted, painted black and red, the feathers of the hawk and 
eagle braided in tlieir long scalp locks; l)ut save for these glimjises tliesoldiers knew 
tlie presence of their soml)er eni'uiy only from the fearful rai)idity with whicii their 
comrades fell dead and wounded in the ranks. They never even knew the numbers 
or leaders of the Indians. At tiie time it was supposed that they (Mitnumbered the 
whites, but it is ])rol)al)le that the reverse was the case, and it may even be that they 
were not more than half as numerous. It is said that the chief who led them, l)oth 
in council and ])attie, was Little Turtle, a ]\Iiami. At any rate, there were ])resent 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 151 

• 
all the chiefs and picked warriors of the Delawares, Shawnees, Wiaiulots, and ]\Iianiis, 
and all the most reckless and adventurous youn<r braves from anioiifj: the Irotiuois 
and the Indians of the upper lakes, as well as many of the ferocious whites and lialf- 
breeds who dwell in the Indian villages. 

"The Indians fought with the utmost l)oldness and ferocity, and with tiie utmost 
skill and caution.'" 

" I'nder cover of the smoke of the heavy but harmless fire fi-om the aiuiy they 
came u]) so close that they shut the tmops down as hunters slaughter a herd of 
standing buffalo. Watching their chance, they charged again and again witli the 
tomahawk, gliding intn close (piarters while tlu'ir l)ewilden'd foes were still blindly 
firing into the smoke-shrouded woods. The men saw no enemy as they stnod in the 
ranks to load and shoot; in a moment, without warning, dark faces frowned thnjugh 
the haze, the war axes gleamed, and on the frozen ground the weapons clattered as 
the soldiers fell. As the comrades of the fallen sprang forward to avenge them, the 
lithe warriors vanished as rapidlj'^ as they had appeared; and once more the soldiers 
saw V)efore them only the dim forest and the shifting snidke wreaths, with vague 
half glimpses of the hidden foe, while the steady singing of the Indian bullets never 
ceased, and on every hand the bravest and steadiest fell one by one. 

"At first the army as a whole fought tinnly; indeed, there was no choice, for it 
was ringed as a wall of flame. The officers l)ehaved very well, cheering and encour- 
aging their men; but they were the special targets of the Indians, and fell rapidly. 
St. Clair and Butler by their cool fearlessness and in the hour of extreme jieril made 
some amends for their shortcomings as commanders. They walked up and down 
the lines from flank to flank, passing and repassing one another; for the two lines of 
battle were facing outward and each general was busy trying to keep his wing from 
falling back. St. Clair's clothes were pierced by eight bullets, but lie was himself 
untouched. He wore a blanket coat with a hood; he had a long (pieue, and his 
thick gray hair flowed from under his three-cornered hat; a lock of his hair was car- 
ried oft by a bullet. Several times he headed the charges, sword in hand, (ieneral 
Butler had his arm broken early in the fight, but he continued to walk to and fro 
along the line, his coat off and the wounded arm in a sling. Another bullet struck 
him in the side, inflicting a mortal wound; and he was carried to the middle of the 
camp, where he sat propped up by knajisacks. * * * 

" Instead of being awed Ijy the bellowing artillery, the Indians made the gunners 
a special object of attack. Man after man was picked off, until every oliicer was 
killed but one, who was wounded; and most of the privates also were slain or dis- 
abled. The artillery was thus almost silenced, and the Indians, end)ol(lened by suc- 
cess, swarmed forward and seized the guns, while at the same time a part of the left 
wing of the army began to shrink liack. But the Indians were now on comparatively 
open ground, where the Regulars could see them and get at them, and under St. 
Clair's own leadership the troops rushed flercely at the savages with (ixed bayonets, 
and drove them back to cover. By this time the confusion and disorder was great; 
while from every hollow and grass ])atch, from behind every stump and tree and 
fallen log, the Indians continued their tire. Again and again the otlicers led forwanl 
the troops in bayonet charges, and at first the men followed them with a will. Kach 
charge seemed for a moment to be successful, the Indians rising in swarms and run- 
ning in headlong flight from the bayonets. In one of the earliest, in which Colonel 
Drake led his l>attalion, the Indians were driven several hundri'd yards, across the 
branch of the Wabash; but when the Colonel halted and rallied his men, he found 
that the savages had crossed in behind him, and he had to fight his way back, while 
the foe he had been driving at once turned and harassed his rear. He was himself 
wounded, and lost most of hisci>mmand. On reentering camp lu- found the Indians 
again in possession of the artillery and l)aggage, from wliich they were again driven; 
they had already scalped the slain who lay about the guns. Maj. Thomas Butler had 
his thigh broken by a bullet, but he continued on horseback, in conunand of his 
battalion, until the end of the fight, and led his men in one of the momentarily suc- 
cessful charges. The only Regular regiment present lost every officer, killed or 
wounded. The connnander of the Kentucky militia, Colonel ()ldham, was killed 
early in the action, while trying to rally his men and dauuiing them for cowards. 

"The charging troopH could accomplish nothing i>ei'uiaueut. The men were too 
clumsy and ill-trained in forest warfare to overtake their licet, half-naki-d antagonists. 
The latter never received the shock; Imt, though they lied, they were nothing 
daunted, for they turned the instant the battalion <lid, and followe*!, liring. They 
skipped out of reach of the bayonets, and came l)ack as tlu-y pleased, and they were 
only visil)le when raised by a charge. * * * 

"As the officers fell, the soldiers, who at first stood uj) bravely enough, gradually 
grew disheartened. No words can paint the hopelessness and horror of siuh a 



152 MEMOKIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

• 
strugjrle as that in which they were engaged. They were hemmed in by ioe>i who 
showed no mercy and whose blows they could in no way return. If they charged 
they could not overtake the Indians, and the instant the charge sto^iped the Indians 
came back. If they stood they were shot down by an unseen enemy, and there was 
no stronghold, no refuge to which to flee. The Indian attack was relentless and 
could neither be avoided, ])arried, nor met by counter assault. For two hours or so 
the troops kept up a slowly lessening resistance; l)ut by degrees their hearts failed. 
The wounded had been brought toward the middle of the lines, where the baggage 
and tents were, and an ever-growing proportion of wounded men joined them. In 
vain the officers tried by encouragement, by jeers, by blows to drive them back to 
the fight. They were unnerved. As in all cases where large bodies of men are put 
in imminent peril of death, whether by shipwreck, plague, fire, or violence, num- 
bers were swayed by a mad panic of utterly selfish fear, and others became numb 
and callous, or snatched at any animal gratification during their last moments. Many 
soldiers crowded ai'ound the fires and stood stunned and confounded by the awful 
calamity; many liroke into the officers marquees and sought for drink, or devoured 
the food which the rightful owners had left when the drums beat to arms. 

"There was but one thing to do. If possible the remnant of the army must be 
Ksaved, and it could only be saved by instant flight, even at the cost of abandoning 
the wounded. The broad road by which the army had advanced was the only line 
of retreat. The artillery had already been spiked and abandoned. Most of the 
horses had been killed, but a few were still left, and on one of these St. Clair 
mounted. He gathered together torn fragments of the different battalions which 
contained the few men who still kept heart and head, and ordered them to charge 
and regain the road from which the savages had cut them off. Repeated orders 
were necessary before some of the men could be roused from their stupor sutficiently 
to follow the charging party; and they were only induced to move when told it was 
to retreat. 

"Colonel Drake and a few ofliicers placed themselves at the head of the column, 
the coolest and boldest men drew up behind them, and they fell on the Indians 
with such fury as to force them back well beyond the road. This made an opening 
through which, said Van Cleve, the packer, the rest of the troops 'pressed like a 
drove of bullocks.' The Indians were surprised at the vigor of the charge, and 
puzzled as to its object. They opened out on both sides, and half the men had 
gone through before they fired more than a chant-e shot or two. They th^n fell on 
the rear and })egan a hot pursuit. St. Clair sent his aid, Denny, to the front to try 
to keep order, but neither he nor anyone else could check the flight. ^Nlajor Clark 
tried to rally his battalion to cover the retreat, but he was killed and the effort 
abandoned. 

"There never was a wilder rout. As soon as the men began to run, and realized 
that in flight there lay some hope of safety, they broke into a stampede, which soon 
became uncontrollabie. Horses, soldiers, and the few camji followers and women 
who had accompanied the army were all mixed together. Neither connnand nor 
example had the slightest weight; the men were abandoned in the terrible selfish- 
ness of utter fear. They threw away their weapons as they ran. They thought on 
nothing but escape, and fled in a huddle, the stronger and the few who had horses 
trampling their way to the front through the old, the weak, and the wounded; 
while beliind them raged the Indian tomahawk. Fortunately the attraction of 
plundering was so overpowering that the savages only followed the army about 4 
miles; otherwise hardly a man would have escaped." 

On August 20, 1794, Anthony Wayne marched against the Indians and gained a 
decisive victory over them at the battle of Fallen Timbers. In this battle Wayne 
had an army of 3,000 men, 2,000 of whom were regulars, and 1,000 mounted volun- 
teers from Kentucky. It is estimated that the Indians numbered between 1,500 and 
2,000. 

In nearly all these Indian wars some of the Delawares remained loyal to the 
colonies. When Harrison marched against the Prophet on November 6, 1811, he 
encamj)ed within 3 miles of the Prophet's town; thence he sent Delaware cliiefs 
on a mission to the Prophet, but the latter treated them with scorn. The Indians 
attacked and retreated several times, until after daylight, when they were attacked 
and disj)ersed by the mounted men, and retreated, leaving 40 of theii- dead on the 
field. Harrison's loss was U]>ward of 00 killed and at least as many wounded. Thi.s 
battle is known as the ))attle of Tippecanoe. 

Two years afterwards the l)attle ni the Tiiames was fought by (ieneral Harrison 
on one side and Colonel I'rocter and Tecumseh on the other side. Thi.s battle 
resulted in the death of Tecumseh and the defeat of the British and Indian forces, 
and this was the last battle in wliich any Delaware fought against the United States, 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 153 

although it is daimed that some of the Dela wares, still loyal, were in the service of 
Harrisson. 

Just how many Dela wares assisted the Aiiierieans in the war of LS12 1 am not able 
to state, but it appears, from a letter from John (traham, chief clerk of the War 
Department, dated December IS, 1S15, to John Johnson, at lM<jna, Oliio, that $10,288 
was paid to the Delaware Indians atone time, l)eing a balance claimed to l)e due 
them as compensation and for losses sustained during the war. But the Delawares 
had nuich to contend with. The influence of Captain Pipe and his followei"s was 
strongly felt and when the prophetic words of the Delaware chief, Pachgantschilias, 
were repeated to them, it was hard for the friends of the American colonists to 
defend their actions. 

Pachgantschilias said : 

" I admit that there are good white men, but they 1)ear no proportion to the bad; 
the bad nuist be the strongest, for they rule. They do what they jilease. They 
enslave those who are not of their color, aithough created by the same (xreat Sjjirit who 
created them. They would make slaves of us if they could; but as they can not do 
it, tliey kill us. There is no faith to be placed in their words. Tliey are not like 
the Indians, who are only enemies while at war, and are friends in peace. They 
will say to an Indian, ' My friend; my brother.' They will take him by the hand 
and at the same moment destroy him. And so you [he was addressing the Christian 
Indians at Gnadenhutten, Pennsylvania], will also be treated by them before long. 
Remember that this day I have warned you to beware of such friends as these. I 
know the Long-knives. They are not to be trusted." 

Again their lands were being encroached upon, and it seemed as if there was no 
resting place to be found for them. At each council they were jiressed to give up 
more land, until finally, in 1793, one of the Delaware chiefs stated: 

" ^loney to us is of no value, and to most of us unknown; and as no consideration 
whatever can induce us to sell the lands on which we get sustenance for our women 
and children, Ave hope we may be allowed to point out a mode by which your 
settlers may be easily removed and peace thereby obtained. 

" AVe know that these settlers are poor, or they would never have ventured to live 
in a country which has been in continual trouble ever since they crossed the Ohio. 
Divide, therefore, this large sum of money which you have offered us among these 
peojjle; give to each, also, a proportion of what you say you would give to us 
annually, over and above this very large sum of money, and we are persuaded they 
would most readily accept of it in lieu of the lands you sold them. If you add, also, 
the great sums you must expend in raising and paying armies with a view to force 
us to yield you our country, you will certainly have more than snthcient for the 
purpose of repaying these settlers for all their labor and their impi'ovements. 

"You have talked to us about concessions. It appears strange that you should 
expect any from us who have only been defending our just rights against your 
invasions. We want peace. Restore to us our country, and we shall be enemies no 
longer. * * * 

"We desire you to consider, brothers, that our only demand is the peaceable pos- 
session of a small part of our once great country. Look back and review the lands 
from whence we have been driven to this spot. We can retreat no farther, bet-ause 
the country behind hardly affords food for its present iidial)itants, and we have 
therefore resolved to leave our bones in this small space to which we are now 
confined." 

Notwithstanding the great insecurity of their hf)mes they were not idle, l)ut culti- 
vated large fields of corn and vegetables. 

Gen. Anthony Wayne observed this, and in one of his letters remarked that their 
lands "appear like one continued village for a numlier of miles, both above and 
below this place; nor have I ever before beheld such innnense fields of corn in any 
part of America from Canada to Florida." 

Finally, in 1818, the Delaware Indians, at the treaty of St. Marys, ceded to the 
United States all of their lands in the State of Indiana, the United States i)romising 
to provide a country for them to reside in west of the [Nlississipju and to guarantee to 
them the peaceable po.s«ession of the .same. They were to have, in addition to the 
sums j)romised by previous treaties, $4,000 a year and were to be allowed to remain 
three years longer in their homes. The Government also agreed to ])ay tliem for 
their improvements on their lands and to give them 120 hor.«es and a snthcient num- 
ber of pirouges to aid in transporting them to the west side of the ]Missi.«sii)pi; also 
provisions for the journey. 

In 1829 a supplemental article was added to this treaty in which it was agreed that 
the country in the forks of the Kansas and ^Missouri rivers .^elected for their homes 
"shall be conveyed and forever secured by the United States to the said Delaware 



154 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Nation as their pernianent residence, and the United States hereby pledges the faith 
of the Government to guarantee to the said Delaware Nation forever the quiet, peace- 
able, and undisturbed enjoyment of the same against the claims and assaults of all 
other people whatever." 

An additional permanent annuity of $1,000 was promised; 40 horses and the use of 
6 wagons and ox teams to assist in the removing of heavy articles; provisions for the 
journey, and one year's subsistence after they reached their new homes; also a grist 
and saw mill within two years. 

By the year 1833 all of the Delawares had reached their new homes and the Com- 
missioner of Indian Affairs said that year, " The agent for the Delawares and Shaw- 
nees states that he was shown cloth that was spun and woven, and shirts and other 
clothing made by the Indian girls." The same year he reports that the Delaw'ares 
had in cultivation 1,500 acres of land in grain and vegetables and were raising a 
great many hogs, cattle, and horses. 

"They are a brave and enterprising people and at peace with all neighboring 
Indians." 

In 1844 the chiefs and counselors of the Delawares petitioned the Secretary of War 
that the school funds to which they were entitled by treaty jarovisions might be paid 
to the Indian manual labor school at Fort Leavenworth Agency, and that they might 
thereafter be guaranteed the education and subsistence of Delaware children, not 
exceeding 50 at one time. 

It developed in these negotiations that $2,000 were due them on arrears of their 
school funds. The Secretary assented to this request, but imposed five conditions. 
The most amazing one was that "the interest to be paid annually when it may suit 
the Treasury; and this ratification to be subject to withdrawal, and the agreement 
itself to recision, and to be annulled at the pleasure of the Department." 

CHAPTER IV. 

In most every war in which the United States has been engaged some of the Dela- 
ware Indians aided and assisted the (xovernment, and even in the Florida war'' we 
find that the Delawares furnished a1 )out 100 warriors, guides, and scouts for the United 
States Army. But it seems that in their military service, like their other dealings, 
they were neglected. Following are two letters on file in the Office of the Connnis- 
sioner of Indian Affairs on this subject: 

Department of the Interior, 

Office of Indian Affairs, 

June 28, 1855. 
Sir: Your letter of the 15th instant, inclosing one from Agent Robinson requesting 
copies of lists of the names of Delaware warriors who have performed military service 
for the United States, and which were forwarded here by you in September, 1853, 
was duly received. 

For his convenience and information I transmit herewith copies of the lists named 
by him, also one naming those Shawnees who have ol^tained bounty-land warrants 
for services in the Florida war, which was furnished to the Office at the same time. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Charles E. Mix, 
Acting CoinmisKioiier. 
A. Gumming, Esq., 

Superintendent Indian Affdirn, St. Louis, Mo. 

Department of the Interior, 

Office of Indian Affairs, 

April 23, 1862. 

Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the instant, inclosing 

an ajiplication from the Delaware chiefs for money due tliem for military service in 
the Florida war, and have to inform you that as the su])ject pertains to the jurisdic- 
tion of the War Department, the jiapcrs have been referred to the Secretary of the 
Interior, with the reciuest that the same be referred to the Secretary of War. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Wm. p. Dole, Commimoner. 
S. S. Menaoeh, Present. 

As early as January, 1793, the Delawares and Shawnees negotiated with Fiaron 
De Carondelet for lands west of the Mississippi, in the State of Missouri, and the Del- 
awares resided there until the year 1815. 

About this time the Cherokee were living on the Arkansas River at that }>lace, 
which afterwards became the Cherokee Nation. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 155 

The Osages, a powerful tribe who chiiined the territory, made war against the 
Cherokee and were al)oiit to subdue them, when messengers were sent to the Dela- 
wares in Indiana, beseet-hing their aid. The Delawares sent warriors to theii- rescue 
and found the Cherokee near Cantonment (iibson (later Foit Gibson), in a stockade 
they had erected for their defense, the Osages having seized most of their stock, 
destroyed their homes, and forced them to this place. As the Algonkin warriors 
marched in, there was great rejoicing among the Cherokee, and after a few days of 
rest — dancing and feasting — they marched against the Osages, who had with(h'awn 
west of Grand lliver. They overtook them at a place called Cal>in Cieek, l)ut this 
tight was only a skirmish. From there tlie Osages retired to a liigii hill on the east 
side of theVerdigiis River. After sending their women and children across the 
river, whii-h was swollen from recent rains, the Osage warriors fortilied themselves 
on top of this hill, which is quite dillicult to ascend, owing to the stone precipices 
aroun<l the summit. The Cherokee, and especially the Delawares, were mostlj' 
well armed with guns; the Osages principally having bows, arrows, and spears. The 
battle raged from early in the morning until late in the afternoon, during which the 
Osages would roll large stones and ])owklers over the precipice to repel the assaults 
of the Cherokee and Delawares. But in spite of the advantage in position and 
numbers possessed by the Osages, the summit was gained in the afternoon ami the 
Osages completely routed. Their chief, Claremore, was killed anel buried on the 
mound which was named after him. Thereafter the Cherokee had no further 
trouV)le from this source. 

Another party of C'herokee went on still farther south and located in Texas, on 
the Sabine River, where they had established themselves as frontier guards between 
the settlers of Texas and the wild Indians of the plains, who would swoop down from 
the territory of the United States into that part of ^Mexico and had become a constant 
menace to her subjects in that part of the repuljlic now known as Texas. These 
Cherokee, too, soon needed the aid and assistance of the Algonkins, and the Dela- 
wares, true to their alliance, tlie Shawnees, and a few other of the Algonkin tril)es 
again went to their rescue. 

Here, on the Sabine River, we tind tlie Indians, who justly claimed much of the 
North American continent, making a treaty first with one class of the invaders and 
then with another, and finally getting a grant, or an acknowledgment of title, to the 
land from both Mexico and Texas, and, having faith in their promises and fighting 
for the protection of Texas, only to find themselves cruelly driven away as soon as 
Texas was al)le to do without the Indians' aid, notwithstanding the fact that Texas 
had guaranteed to protect them against invasion, or purchase the land should the 
Indians wish to sell. 

This chapter of the history is well told by referring to parts of an old letter, w liich 
is as follows: 

"The undersigned, chiefs of the Shawnee and Delaware Indians, acting for their 
tribes, having faith in the justice and truth of our white brethren in the great State 
of Texas, and faith in the promise of their Great Captain, Sam Houston, and others 
in the world beyond the skies, respectfully ask the assistance, relying upon the jirom- 
ises aforesaid of your excellency, in cai-rying out these promises made in good faith 
to our people. 

"The agreement between the Delaware and Shawnee Indians entered into between 
the Republic of Texas and themselves was unfortunately lost and destroyed by fire 
some time during the year of 1855. We have, through the aid extended l)y many of 
your pe(jple, been made accjuainted with many facts which conclusively proves to us 
that we are in justice entitled to consideration and help from the white brethren of 
the State of Texas. 

"The first fact to which we beg to call your attention as tending to prove our rights 
to consideration an<l aid from the Stateof Texas, is the treaty signed at Colonel Bowles's 
village, on the 23<1 day of February, \KHi, in the first year of the provisional govern- 
ment of Texas; for a more detailed descrij^tion of the matters set forth in the treaty 
reference is here made to the record of the same in the Department of State and the 
War Dei)artment. 

"The treaty shows that its object and purpose was to provide for an everlasting 
peai-e between the Shawnees and Delawares and the Rei)ublic of Texas, and the 
various other tribes within the borders of the Re|)ublic. 

"A short time subsecpient to the making of this treaty, the history of Texas 
records the fact, and the same is recollected l)y many of the pioneers of your great 
State, that a conspiracy was enteretl into between the Mexicans, then resident in 
your State, and many of the wild tribes of Indians, whicli tribes are named in the 
treaty before referred to, and they rebelled against the Republic of Texas. This 
conspiracy having been brought to the notice of the Shawnee and Delaware 



156 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Indians before the whites had any knowledge thereof, it was revealed by the 
Shawnee and Delaware Indians, and the same thwarted by reason of the knowledge 
of the consjDiraey being communicated to the whites before the same became well 
organized. The Dela wares and Shawnees, on being solicited by the other Indians 
and Mexicans to take jiart in the conspiracy, refused to do so, and the head chief of 
the Shawnees immediately upon learning of such conspiracy disjjatched his own 
son to notify the whites of its existence, and thereby enabled them to prepare and 
circumvent the same. 

"They suffered many indignities and deprivations of property and person by 
reason of having revealed the knowledge of this conspiracy to the white people, and 
the wild tribes and the Mexicans retaliated in various ways, and they lost a great 
(leal of property and life by reason of their loyalty to the conditions of the treaty 
entere<l into as before stated. 

"These are facts that appear of record in the War Department and rest in the 
memory of all of the old pioneers now living. 

"In the year 1839 there was a general order issued by the Federal Government for 
the removal of all the Indians from the Republic of Texas. Through the inter- 
cession of the then acting president of your provisional government, Lamar, the 
commissioner who was charged with carrying out the order of removal, was prevailed 
ui3on not to molest or remove the Shawnees and Delawares. 

"The next fact to which attention is called as tending to prove our consideration 
to aid and to help, and to be reimbursed for the land ceded to us by treaty, is two 
letters from commissioners of the State of Texas, written January 4, 1841, and also 
to an account allowed by President Sam Houston for expenses incurred by the Dela- 
wares and Shawnees for ferriage for themselves and horses in crossing the river to go 
on the warpath against the Comanche Indians, and to suppress them at the instance 
of the Re2:)ublic aforesaid. The records of the Department of State show the issuance 
of ammunition to these Shawnees and Delawares for the purpose of carrying on this 
war for the suppression of the Comanches. The records further show that the Shaw- 
nees and Delawares afterwards acted as interpreters in the peace brought about bj' 
their services at the council which lasted from the 28th day of March to the 17th day 
of April, in the year 1842. The records further show that President Houston gave 
his duebill to Joe Harry and Jack Harry for services in protecting the frontier 
in 1842. 

"The records further show that one Jim Shaw, a Delaware Indian, in 1841, rescued 
a Mrs. Tidwell and her children from the Comanches, and delivered them to their 
bosom friends. This evidence is referred to for the purpose of showing that the 
Shawnees and Delawares were alwaJ^s loyal to the treaty entered into between them 
and the State of Texas on the 23d day of February, 1836, which treaty is signed by 
Sam Houston and John Forbes on the part of the provisional government of Texas, 
and the head chief of the various tribes mentioned in said treaty; these facts, taken 
in connection with the valuable services rendered bj' them during the various Indian 
wars, as shown by the records of the War Department, prove that they are entitled to 
be reimbursed for the lands ceded them l)y the Republic of Texas. 

" We also call attention to the minutes of the council held at Tiwocana Creek, com- 
mencing on Tuesday, the 28th of March, 1843; there was present as commissioner in 
behalf of the provisional government of Texas, G. W. Terrell, John S. Black, and 
T. J. Smith, and T. Brysen, secretary of said commission; the commission on behalf 
of the LTnited States was Hon. Pierce Butler. The following tribes were represented 
in this council, viz: The Delawares, Shawnees, Cad does, Waccoes, Ironise, Anadarkas, 
Tawaconos, Keeches. 

"The following individuals acted as interpreters during the sitting of the council, 
viz: John Conner, Jim Secondevne, Jim Shaw, Louis Sanchez, Jessy Chisholm, and 
Red Horse. Tiiese were the chief men of the Delawares and Shawnee Indians, and 
were used by the State of Texas in negotiating and treating with the other tribes of 
Indians. 

"The agreement for a treaty was effected at this council between all the hostile 
tribes of Indians within the borders of the State, and afterwards all these tribes were 
removed to the Indian Territory with the exception of the Shawnees and Delawares, 
to whom the commissioners on the part of Texas ceded 40 square miles of land situ- 
ated on tlie Brazos River. 

"In view of these facts, and knowing traditionally of our rights to the land so 
ceded by the conunissioners of the provisional goverinnent of Texas, for meritorious 
services as heretofore described, and n|ion investigation of our rights to the same, . 
we have concluded to ask this gi-eat State to reimburse us for the same, or to cede us 
other lands in lieu of the same that we may liave a home, the fee to be held in the 
remainder of our nation in trust for all. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE FNDIANS. 157 

"In condnsion, we will say that, believing in the justice of our rights ami relying 
on the bounty of the State of Texas for redress of wrongs, we ask tliat other lands be 
ceded to us in lieu of those, or that an appropriation be made of sulHcient uioney to 
purchase other lands in j)lace of those formerly ci'dctl us for the purpose of a home." 

Though there never were more than 250 Delaware Indians at any one time in the 
State of Texas, yet they played a most important part in that State during its forma- 
tive period, and authentic documents still exist containing a record of their many 
notable deeds of heroism entitlini: them to a hiyli place in the liistorv of the "Lone 
Star State." 

From Marcy's "Explorations of the Red Kiver," we get the following: 

"The Comanches during the past year have not been friendly with tlie Dela- 
wares an<l Shawnees, and although tliere has as yet been no organized demonstration 
of hostilities, they have secretly killed st'veral men, and in (■(»nse<|Uenci' oui' hunters 
entertain a feeling of revenge toward them. They, however, go out alone every day 
upon their hunts, are frequently 6 or 8 miles from the command, and seem to have 
no fears of the Comanches, as they are liable to encounter them at any moment; and 
being so poorly mounted that they could not escape, their only alternative would be 
to act on the defensive. I have cautioned them upon the subject several times, but 
they say that they are not afraid to meet any of the prairie Indians, provided the 
odds are mit greater than six to one. They are well armed with good rifles — the use 
of which they understand ])erfe(tly — are intelligent, active, and brave, and in my 
opinion will ere long take ample satisfaction upon the Comanches for every one of 
their nation that falls by their hands. 

"* * * Upon passing the trail of the Indians to-day, one of Our Dela wares 
looked for a moment at the foot-prints, picked up a blade of grass that had been 
crushed, and said the trail was made two days since, when to us it had every ajipear- 
ance of being quite fresh; subsequent observations satisfied us that he was correct. 

" Upon another occasion, riding along over the prairie, I saw in the sand wha 
appeared to me to be a liear track, with the impression of all of the toes, foot, and 
heel; on })ointing it out to one of tlie Indians, he instantly called my attention to 
some blades of grass hanging about 10 inches over the marks, and explained to me 
that while the wind is blowing these blades are pressed toward the earth, and the 
oscillation thereby produced had scooped out the light sand into the form I have 
mentioned. This, when explained, was perfectly simple and intelligil)le, but I am 
very much inclined to believe the solution of it would have puzzled the philosophy 
of a white man for a long time. 

"A few such men as the Delawares attached to each comi>any of troops upon the 
Indian frontier would, l)v their knowledge of Indian character and habits, and their 
wonderful powers of judging of country, following tracks, etc. (which soldiers can 
not be taught), enable us to operate to much l)etter advantage against the prairie 
tribes. In several instances when we have had our animals stray away from camp 
I have sent six or eight teamsters for them, who, after searching a long time, would 
often return unsuccessful. I would then send out one Indian, who would make a 
circuit around the camp until he struck the tracks of the lost animals, and following 
them up would invariably return with them in a short time. In this way their 
services are almost indispensa1)le ujion an expediticHi like ours. 

' 'One of the Delawares has seen fresh buffalo tracks to-day going to the southeast, 
and we still cherish the hoj)e that we may yet encounter them. 

"John Bushman, our interpreter, was much surprised to-day. on calling a doe 
toward him with a deer bleat, to see a small fawn following after its mother; but 
imagine his astonishment when immediately behind tlie fawn came a huge ]>anther 
bounding rapidly toward him, and in a twinkling he fastened his claws in the vitals 
of his victim. He, however, in this instance, caught the tartar, and jiaid dearly for 
his temerity, as John, with a spirit of indignation that would have done credit to the 
better feelings of any man, raised his rifle and, insteadof killiugthe deer, which was 
entirely at his mercy, planted the contents in the siileof the jianther. 

"The method of hunting deer by the use of the bleat is practiced extensivt-ly l)y 
the Delawari's in this country and with great success." 

In the Indian Office at Washington, D. C, will be found filed the following letters: 

Brazos Ac.rncv, Oiiuhcr 7, 1S55. 
Major Nkkuibous. 

Dk.xr Sik: I left all well at my agency, and the Indians (|uiel and contented. 

Twenty-four of Shanico's tribecame in and rejxirted that he will be in before long. 
The men returned from Mexico bringing some nine or ten horses, which Tekin.^ee 
took from them and turne<l over to me. He also sent a man to a band of Taconies 



158 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

and Iji'onght in live more hordes, four of them Delaware horses and one Pino Shaw's 
horse. Men are at work and pusliing things. Tlie party of Delawares that left when 
you did, or a day or two after, returned bringing seven scalps and two horses. They 
report that they followed the trail for several days, after their horses, and that it 
gave out, but they continued the direction until they struck a fresh trail, which was 
the two that killed Skidmore. They followed that trail across Red River and stopped 
at noon, when a party of ten Comanche Indians came up to them. They had a con- 
versation and finally camped together, each party watching the other; for Jacob 
says he could understand every word they said and they agreed among themselves 
to attack the Delawares, kill them, and take their horses next morning at daybreak. 

But the Delawares lay awake all night, and at daybreak they opened fire upon 
them and killed four, charged the rest and killed all but two, one of whom was 
Imdly wounded, and the other they could have killed but they wanted him to carr}- 
the news of their defeat back to the Comanche. One they did not scalj), as he fell 
in a water hole and sank. They brought the bows, lances, shields, and tricks of the 
party. 

They told Jacob that they had met the Indians that killed old Skidmore and had 
learned from them that there were plenty of horses down here, and that they were 
on their way down to kill and steal, and that there was a large war partj^ coming 
down to kill John Conner, Ketemsee, Lambshead, and all they could find. 

They seemed to know all about the condition of the posts and our frontier, and 
said that they had joined the Sioux Indians against the whites in the North. The 
captain commanding the party killed was Yamparico and had a black cloth coat, an 
undershirt and a daguerreotyj^e with him, and on his shield were some twenty 
white scalps, mostly white women. I have this shield and spear. 

The two Indians that killed Skidmore w^ent on to the San Saba and stole seven 
horses and came back in their trail to the Caddo Peaks. From there they struck 
due north and went to the main Comanche camp. A pat-ty of 12 men followed 
them and lost the trail. They then came on to the posts and then here to see 
Captain Ross. 

I have no doubt we will have the devil to pay, and our frontier is in the greatest 
danger. I hope you may succeed in your plans, as it is the only hope I have of 
having anj^thing done. The Indians here are ready and willing to go against the 
Gomanche, and I think them about the best protection we have if they were 
managed by some white man. 

A few killing scrapes will give them a distaste to these parts, anyhow. Jacob 
learned from the captain he killed that the point selected for winter quarters of all 
the wild Indians was on main Red River, where it runs through the mountains, and 
that some eight or ten tribes united with the Sioux in their war. John Conner says 
he ascertained from a Noconee that that is where they expect to winter. 

I think there would be no difhculty in finding them if an expedition were gotten 
up. I shall return to the Clear Fork in the morning and will keep a sharp lookout 
for any strange Indians. I will make requisition on INIajor Paul for a detachment of 
men to go out to the agency and remain there, as I think it jiroper to give the Gov- 
ernment employees all the protection I can. 

Respectfully, etc., J. R. Baylor, 

Special Indian Agent, Texas Indians. 

CoM.\xcHE Agency, Tex., January 1, 1857. 

The bearer of this letter, John Cornier, a Delaware Indian, has been my inter- 
])reter for the last two years, and has l)een known to me for many years. 

I reconmiend him to the kindness of all Americans who may meet him. I know 
him to be a man of truth, honesty, and integrity. 

He has been on the frontier of Texas for nearly thirty years, and has rendered to 
the governments important services; so much so that the State of Texas has given 
liim a league of land and made him a citizen of the State. 

I ask of all who may meet Mr. Conner a kind reception, and can assure them that 
the people of Texas, who know him, will a[)preciate it. The man who has devoted 
the best of his life in trying to make peace with the wild and warlike tribes on our 
frontier, who has often risked his life and lost his ])roiK'rty, is certainly entitled to 
the kindness and respect of the people he has served so faithfully. 

1 therefore ask that I\lr. C-onner may meet with the kindness he so well deserves 
from all good citizens. 

John R. T.\ylok, 
Indian Agent, Texas Indians. 



mp:mokial of the Delaware Indians. 159 

Jame(< Swaiim-k, James Saghnndai, Jainei* Conner, Delaware Charley, Wetowka, 
Crane, Solomon Kverett, and Bob Skirkett, all Delaware Indians, accompanied Fre- 
mont in 1853 across the Kocky Mountains and assisted him in redeemin<^ the State 
of California from the Mexicans. In ]\Ir. John Charles Fremont's work Memoirs 
of My Life, are many accounts of the adventures these Delaware Indians met on 
those occasions. In speaking of his experience at Monterey, Mr. Fremont says: 

"The Delawares kept an unfailing watch from every peak or lofty crag, and with 
the instruction and long-j)racticed vigilance, clear-sightedness, and quick discernment 
of their race, gave notiiv of every movement in all directions. 

'•(Jne morning at sunrise everything indicated a near impending assault by over- 
whelming imnd)ers. Fremont addressed his people, who assured him with one voice 
that they were ready to meet death with him on the sjjot rather than surrender. 
The Delawares prepared themselves at once for their last l)attle. They arrayed them- 
selves in their full finery, put their red war paint on themselves and on their horses, 
and with all their weai>ons in order, made the circuit of the camj), singing their war 
and death songs, their chargers prancing in apparent sympathy with their riders in 
the solemn but exultant enthusiasm of the occasion; but the enemy shrunk from the 
crisis." 

He further says they were resourceful, brave, excellent luarksmen, truthful, 
unwearied in watchfulness when in a hostile country, as they often were; unselfish, 
and disjilaying repeatedly a self-abnegation worthy of highest praise, excepting in 
one direction, thus alluded to by General Fremont in his Memoirs: 

"They [the Delawares] regarded our journey as a kind of warpath, and no matter 
what kind of a ]>ath he is upon, a Delaware is always ready to take a scalp when he 
is in a country where there are strange Indians. 

"They were skillful and intrepid scouts, and when in camp duty watchful and 
vigilant ever." 

Notwithstanding tliat they faithfully served Fremont on all occasions, and never 
for one moment faltered in the duties that were required of them, when their work 
was performed and they received their discharge the L'nited States Government 
denied the responsibility of fulfilling the contract that General Fremont made with 
them, and, as far as I know, to this day neither they nor their heirs liave received 
the money or land warrants to which they were entitled. 

Following is a certificate signed by General Fremont and two letters from the act- 
ing Commissioner relating thereto: 

This will certify that the following-named Delawares, James Swanuck, James Sag- 
hundai, James Conner, Delaware Charley, Wetowka, Crane, Solomon Everett, and 
Bob Skirkett were with me on an exploring expedition to California in the year 184H; 
that, ])eing on the shore of Lake Hamath about the middle of May of that year, I 
received directions from the United States Government which changed the exploring 
expedition into one of a military character, to which the services of the above-men- 
tioned men were valuable and necessary. 

To induce them to undertake the new service which would be required of them, I 
promised that I would endeavor to obtain for them the additional compensation of 
$2 a day each, which 1 offered them on the part of the I'nited States. They accepted 
the offer and enlisted accordingly in the service of the United States. 

This engagement was afterwards renewed in July, when the war broke out openly 
in California, when they enlisted for the war. From that time (loth May) until 
about the 20th of November they were actually and efficiently engaged in this service, 
Ijerforming their duties with remarkable courage and fidelity, by wliich they entitled 
themselves to all the favors and consideration which have been granted or may be 
granted to the men who served in the Mexican war. 

Among the rest they are entitled to land warrants. 

J. C. Fremont. 

New York. 56 West Ninth Street, 

March :il, 1857. 

Department or the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, 

]VfisIii)i;/f(>n, Jinir 10, 1886. 
Sir: I am in receipt of a letter from the I'nited States Indian agent at the(.iua]iaw 
Agency, Ind. T., in which he states that Mr. (Jeorge Washington, one of ten Delaware 
Indians who accompanied (ien. John C. Fremont on his California exjiedition in 
1853-54, has in his possession an agreement in writing which reads as follows: 

"Wk.sti'ort, Mo., S(/)tiiiiln'r lf>\ 1S.'>J. 
"1 have this day made an agreement through Jim Secondi by which ten Delaware 
hunters, good men, are to accompany me on my journey to California and back to 



160 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

this country. The ten Delawares are to furnish their own animals, and are each to 
be paid $2 per day. They are to provide themselves with good animals, and if anj' 
of tlieir animals should die upon the road I am to pay them for the loss. 

"They will of course be furnished by me with ammunition, and the saddles which 
are furnished are at my own cost. 

" JoHX C. Fremont." 

The agent states that Mr. Washington has also a copv of a statement bearing the 
signature of the ten Delawares, detailing the amount due each for work and loss of 
animals, and requests to be informed as to whether or not the United States has ever 
assumed the said indebtedness incurred by General Fremont, and if so, how to proceed 
to procure the same for the claimants. 

I will thank you to inform me if the Government is in any waj' liable for the above 
indebtedness, and, if so, what steps are necessary to be taken by the said Indians to 
secure the payment of their claims. 

Very res])ectfully, A. B. Upshaw, 

A ding Conirnissioner. 

The Third Auditor of the Treasury. 

Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, 

Washington, Jul;/ 9, 1SS6. 
Sir: Referring to your letter dated June 1, relative to ten Delaware Indians who 
claim that there are moneys due them for services rendered as scouts for General 
Fremont on his California expedition in lS.53-54, I have to advise you that tlie honor- 
able Secretary of War, by letter dated the 29th ultimo, states that the United States 
is not responsible for this indebtedness, as General Fremont conducted at his own 
expense an exploring party to the Pacific coast. 

Very respectfully, A. B; Upshaw, 

Acting Conimi.isioncr. 
J. V. Summers, 

United States Indian Agent, Qiiapau: Agcnri/, Lid. T. 

Not only did the Delaware Indians accompany Fremont in the California and Mexi- 
can war, but a number volunteered and served under Col. W. S. Harney for a term 
of six months from the 1st day of January, 1846. When discharged they believed 
themselves entitled to compensation for forage and other extras, as they onh' received 
their monthly pay and subsisted their own hijrses; they also believed that they were 
entitled to the proper cpiota of land due them as bounty. Their request was referred 
to the Secretary of War, but so far I have not been able to ascertain whether or not 
they received satisfactory results. 

Some of the Delawares engaged themselves as trappers, hunters, and scouts for the 
Great Hudson Bay Fur Company, and penetrated the far northwest; and to-day some 
of their descendents are living in Idaho, Montana, and Oregon, afliliated with the 
Crows, Nez Perce, and other northwestern tribes. The number now living in the far 
northwest is estimated at 35. There are also some Delaware Indians at the present 
time in Canada, descendents of those who allied with the British interests, and some 
in the last few years have been found in the state of Mexico who speak the same 
language as the tribe, the jjrincipal body of which now reside in the Cherokee Nation. 

the civil war. 

I feel justified by the records based upon authentic documents, in asserting tliat the 
Delaware Indians displayed during our late civil war the highest quality of loyaltj' 
to the Federal Government, by enlisting in the Army for the Union, and by render- 
ing the most gallant and efficient service afterwards, duringthe entire war, and by their 
example and earnest api)eals to their neigh])oring In<lians of other tribes, secured at 
critical periods voluntary enlistments in the Union Army. 

Their patriotism was of the most earnest and practical kind, as portrayed in official 
reports. 

For example, in the annual report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of 1862 
(p. 28) it is recited: " As an instance of their loyalty I will mention this fact: of 201 
Delawares, between the ages of 18 and 45, 170 have volunteered and are now in the 
military service of the United States. It is doubtful if any conunuriity can show a 
larger proportion of volunteers than this." 

Agent Johnson, in official report of the same year, bears like testimony to the 
loyalty and devotion of this people. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 161 

In the reports of the C'oiiimissioner of Indian Affairs and the Government ajrents 
duriniT the remaining years of the war hke statements are found, testifying to con- 
tinued loyalty, and a< to the character of the service rendered, say-: "They have 
distinguished themselves as faithful soldiers." 

The hea<l and assistant chiefs of the Dehuvares foresaw the malign cloud of seces- 
sion looming up threateningly as early as January 3, 18H1, pregnant with ruin and 
disaster to the whole country. Wherever they had influence among the Indians 
they used it intelligently, earnestly, and in most cases successfully, to continue in 
the patriotic path of duty. What a remarkable prescience they exhibited in the 
following appeal to " Our Loyal (irandchildren." They seem to have " scented the 
battle afar off:" 

Delaware Nation, Kansas, Jamiary 3, 1861. 
To O piUh la ii<n- ho la, Muxcogee Chief Warrior, and our Loyal Grandchildren: 

We are much rejoiced to receive your letter by James ilcDaniels and David Balon. 
Our agent has sent it to our Great Father, the President, at Washington and to Gen- 
eral Hunter at Fort Leavenworth. It gives us great pleasure to hear that you are 
good and true friends to the President and to the Government of the United States. 

We hope you will continue to be their friends. If bad men of the south ask you 
to go to war against the President, stop your ears, don't listen to them; they are 
your worst enemies; they are trying to destroy you and the country. 

(Trandt'liildren, it does our hearts good; we rejoice to hear of the victory you 
gained over your enemies and the enemies of the Government under your brave 
leader, O puth la yar ho la. 

(Trandchildren, we are ready and willing to helji you. Our brave warriors are 
ready to spill their blood for you, but are only waiting to hear from our Great Father 
at Washington. We have asked of him the privilege of going to your assistance and 
hope that our request will be granted. We don't wish to go to war against the wishes 
of our Great Father, the President. We have heard that the President will soon 
have a large army in the Indian country to protect you; that he has ordered General 
Lane to march to your relief. We are. confident that our Great Father is able and 
will protect his nice children. 

Grandchildren, we pray to the " Great Spirit " to protect you and keep you out of 
the hands of the bad men of the South who are trying to destroy you and the Gov- 
ernment. We have no fears as to the result of this war. The President has large 
armies in the field that will conquer and punish the rebels. We are proud of our 
Muskogee children. 

John Connor, Head Chief. 
Ne con hi con, 

SaR CO XIE, 

Charles Journevcake, 

Assistant Chiefs. 
Done in the presence of — 
F. Johnson, 

United J^lates Indian Agent. 
Isaac Journevcake, 

United States Interpreter. 

Evidence that the Dela wares were endeavoring to induce the Creeks "to stand by 
the Government" as early as October 9, 1861, is contained in the following letters, 
written by R. H. Carruth and by F. Johnson, United States Indian agent, 
respectively: 

Hr.MHOLDT, Kans., October P, 1S61. 

Sir: A part of the Creek delegation which I took to you at Camp Lane called on 
me last Saturday as they were returning. They have held councils with the Dela- 
wares and Shawnees and other northern tribes, and waited on me for the jnirpose of 
agreeing on a time of meeting those tribes in council. I have arranged that ilelegates 
from southern Indians be at Humboldt on the 17th of November, and have promised 
them to write the Shawnees to meet them on the 24th of November. 

]\Iy reason for ap})ointing their council with the noithern tribes one week later is 
this: I did not know to what points you might recpiire the southern delegations to be 
taken, and I inclose a letter to the Shawnees, leaving a blank for the place, which 
you can fill out and send if you api>rove of the arrangement. 

I sent a letter to the Seminole chiefs instructing them to send the letters addressed 
them by Ca[)tain Pike and other Confederate officers to yf)U by their deli'gation. 

I also wrote to the superintendent of a mission station to confer with the other 
superintendent — the schools are 100 miles apart — and report to Colonel C(jfiin. This 

S. Doc. 16 11 



162 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

was done at his request, he being absent at tlie time the Indians were at Humboldt. 
I instructed him to employ an Indian runner to come here immediately should 
any important change have taken place among the Indians since the delegation left 
the Creek Nation. The Delawares wrote the Creeks, urging them to stand by the 
Government, and they also had a letter from , branch, central superintend- 
ent. The delegations will be here later than I had wished, but owing to the time 
the Creeks were among the Shawnees, and it would have been imiwssible until their 
return home with their report to iixduce those tribes to send up others, the time 
could not be tixed earlier. 

I have not the slightest doubt of their coming unless force be used by the rel)els 
to jirevent, which I think hardly probable, and in which case we are to be informed 
by runners. I required that they show their loyalty by keeping you informed of 
everything the secession infinence might do to prevent the Union feeling manifesting 
itself. 

I can not believe John Ross, of the Cherokees, has done what the papers state. 
If so, all there is left to do is to kindle civil war over his head. 
Hoping that what I have done may meet your approval, 
I remain, your obedient servant, 

R. H. Carruth. 
Hon. J. H. Lane, 

Commanding K Brigade. 

Department of the Interior, 

Office of Indian Affairs, 

January 21, 1862. 
Sir: Your communication to this Office of the 31st December last has been received, 
inclosing a letter which was brought to you by a messenger from the south as you 
were holding a council with the Delaware chiefs of your agency, and which letter 
you desired to be laid before the President of the United States. Your communica- 
tion also represented the readiness of the Delawares and all the other western tribes 
to engage in militarv service on the side of the Government and against the rebel 
States. 

With reference to all these subjects, you will have an opportunity of conferring 
with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs (who has peruseci your letter in person) 
at Leavenworth city, for which destination he left this city on Sunday last on public 
business. 

Very respectfully, your ol^edient servant, Charles E. Mix, 

A ct ing Com riiissioner. 
F. Johnson, Esq., 

U. S. Indian Agent, Delaware Agency, Kans. 

The saying is true that the " blood of the soldier makes the general great." It is 
the conscientious discharge of duty by the subordinates of an army, stating the prin- 
ciple more broadly, "that makes the efficient army." Black Beaver, the famous 
Delaware scout, is a most satisfactory example illustrative of this. His character, 
modest, faithful, conscientious in the discharge of every duty, and seemingly obliv- 
ious of all personal danger, places him on an exceedingly higli ])lane, worthy of 
imitation. He had the-absolute confidence of those that he guided from danger to 
safety. He never served anyone that did not bear testimony to his zealous discharge 
of his duties. 

The following is a letter from Black Beaver to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs: 

Dear Sir: I take the liberty of addressing my grievances to you and of respect- 
fullj' asking your advice in a matter in which I am earnestly concerned. 

I would represent that I am an Indian, belonging to the Delaware tribe; that I 
have been in the employ of the Government all, or nearly all, the time since the 
commencement of the INIexican war. During the ]Mexican war I was captain of a 
company of Shawnee and Delawares in the United States Army. 

Since that time, up to the coinmencement of the last war, I have been employed 
as a guide or interpreter by the diffei'ent commanding officers at the posts of Arbuckle 
and Fort Cobl), in tlu^ Indian Territory, and by superintendent and agents for the 
Indians in the vicinity of Fort Cobb and Arbuckle, as can be attested by Generals 
Marcy, Emory, Sturgis, Stanley, and Sacklitt, any or all of the military officers sta- 
tioned at the aforenamed posts prior to thi' war, as also ex-Superintendent Rec- 
tor, of Arkansas, and all of the I'nited States Indian agents in that locality. 

I was at the post of Fort Ai'buckle for about five years and the post of Fort Cobb 
one year immediately preceding the last war, and during that time had invested all 
of my means and earnings in cattle and hogs, antl had, at the breaking out of the 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 163 

war, a lar^e stock of cattle and hogi«, as will be attested by some, if not all, of the 
aforenamed persons. 

In the spring of 1861 General Emory recjuested me to guide his command and 
also the combined commands from Forts Smith, Cobb, and Arbuckle to Fort Leaven- 
worth, Kans., which I did, bnt hesitated a))out leaving my stock until General 
Emory assured me that I should be jiaid by the United States for my losses; and on 
that representation I complied with his request and came with his command to 
Fort Leavenworth, Kans., and remained there until the war ceaseil, when 1 visited 
my old place and found that my stock was killed, some having been destroyed by 
the wild Indians and some by the Southern army. 

About two years since I ac(iuainted United States Indian Agent Shanklin with the 
facts and asked him to adopt measures for procuring my pay for me. He (Shanklin) 
was agent for the Affiliated Bands of Indians in the southern superintendency, and I 
was at the time employed as interpreter under his direction. 

I have had no word from him in the matter and do not know whether he made 
any effort in my Ijohalf or not. 

i therefore make this request at your hands, hoping that if it may not be in your 
power to give attention to such matters that you will advise me as to the best course 
to pursue to get my dues. 

I am now an old man (upward of 60 years old) and too feeble to earn a liveli- 
hood, and what is justly due me from the (jovernment is all that I have to depend 
on in my old age. Most, if not all, of the officers before named are well acquainted 
with me and can vouch for the correctness of my statements. 

As to the extent and nature of my claim, I can furnish abundant proof, as many 
persons of my acquaintance before the war are at their old places. 

I would respectfully ask that you make inquiry of General Marcy or General 
Emory, as to my character and claim, and that you would advise me as to the best 
course to pursue in the premises. 

I have never realized 1 cent from the property that I abandoned, and am now in 
need. 

I do not think that Agent Shanklin has made any effort whatever in my behalf, 
or if he has, it has been done in such an indirect manner that he has either accom- 
plished nothing or failed to advise me of the result. 
1 have the honor to be, very respectfully, 

Black Beaver. 

Address box 22, Baxter Springs, Kans. 

The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 

]Vaf<hington, D. C. 

Gen. W. H. Emory wrote to the Commisioner of Indian Affairs, in reference to 
Black Beaver, as follows: 

Washington, June 12, 1869. 

General: I have read carefully the letter of Black Beaver, the Delaware guide, 
dated Baxter Springs, Kans., June 3, 1869, and I hereby certify that it is everj^ word 
true. And I exceedingly regret that the Government has so far neglected the claim 
of this worthy and patriotic man who has rendered such eminent and valuable 
service. 

When the war broke out I was in quasi command of the troops in the Indian 
country, on the northern frontier of Texas — that is to say, I was to take command 
and withdraw the troops only in case Arkansas passed the act of secession. She 
never passed that act before proceeding to actual hostilities and to the attempt to 
capture the troops stationed in the Indian country, so tliat when I got information 
of what was going on I was obliged to act without orders from the (iovernment. 
Orders subsequently arrived, but not until long after the stei)s were taken which I 
now describe and in which Black lieaver rendered such s|)lendid service. 

That step was to concentrate all the troops at Arbuckle and withdraw them en 
masse. Before the concentration could be effected I learned from undoubted authority 
that 4,000 rebels from Texas were marching directly on me and that some 2,000 
from Arkansas were moving to strike my flank. 

This compelled me to seek, with my comparatively small command, tlie open 
prairie. To do this guides were essential, and, of all the Indians upon whom the 
Government had been lavishing its bounty, Black Beaver was the only one that 
would consent to guide my column. 

He was living near Fiirt Arbuckle, in a comfortable house, surrounded by his 
family, with a small farm well stocked with cattle and horses, and a field of corn. 
All these he abandoned to serve the United States, with a full knowledge that in 
doing so his horses and cattle would be seized by the enemy, and his property 



1G4 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

destroj'ed, and such was the case, and Black Beaver has never returned to his home, 
and it is my behef if he was now to return he would be murdered by the bad white 
men, who in 1861 instigated the Indians to go into re1)ellion against the United States 
and whom he so greatly offended by guiding my command through the prairie in 
safety to Fort Leavenworth. 

I need not say how invaluable was his service and great his sacrifice on that occa- 
sion. He was the first to warn me of the approach of the enemy and give me the 
information by which I was enabled to capture the enemy's advance guard, the first 
prisoners captured in the war. 

I can not too urgently press upon the honorable Commissioner the justice of this 
claim and the pressing necessity there is for doing something at once to relieve the 
wants of this aged and worthy man. 

I have the honor to be, yours, respectfully, 

W. H. Emoky, 
Brevet Major-General, U. S. Army. 
Gen. E. S. Parker, 

Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 

I estimate Black Beaver's loss. at about $5,000. 

W. H. Emory. 

W H. Emory, whose hearty indorsement of the long-delayed and eminently just 
claim of Black Beaver against the United States does him credit, was abreast of our 
foremost'^rmy oflicers in conspicuous and efficient service for many years. He felt 
when he penned that letter that his friend Beaver deserved well of the Republic, 
and no doubt greatly regretted the Government's neglect. He comprehended to its 
fullest extent the value, at personal sacrifice, of the service rendered his soldiers 
(and himself) in extricating them from very serious danger. If the Confederates 
had succeeded in capturing his command, their prestige would have been greatly 
increased and the Federal cause proportionately injured. We can not now measure 
the value of the services of the veteran scout, but if disaster had befallen General 
Emory several chapters relating to the civil war would have been differently written. 

There was no drafting during the civil war in Kansas amongst the Delaware Indians 
or amongst those Indians who had long selected them as their guides. There was 
no bounty jumping, either. All history records that where the Delaware adopted a 
cause he entered into it with his whole soul. He is ignorant of half measures. The 
difficulty was never in inspiring him with enthusiasm, but in restraining him. 

I invite the reader's attention in this connection to a letter from Captain Fall Leaf, 
in which he recites some of the important events of his military career. As a scout 
he was many years in the employ of the United States Government. As a mark of 
the distinguished regard and confidence the Government officials of that day enter- 
tained for him, in 1860 he accompanied the Prince of Wales, now Edward VII of 
England, whilst he was touring this country. 

Del.iware Reservation, September 13, 1863. 

Dear Sir: I was employed by Colonel Sumner about four j'ears ago to guide seven 
companies of soldiers under him in an expedition against the Cheyennes. I selected 
six Delawares and did the work assigned me. We whipped the Cheyennes that time, 
and were discharged by Colonel Sumner and paid off. Colonel Sumner, however, in 
addition to the money paid me, promised that the Government should give me 160 
acres of land. I have never received this land, and I would be glad to have you write 
to me how to get it. 

Colonel Sumner also told me after we were discharged, that if at any time there- 
after 1 should want anything that I should call on you and you would grant it. 

One year afterwards I was again called upon by Major Sed wick, and, with six Dela- 
wares whom I selected, I guided three companies of soldiers under the major against 
the Kiowas, and we whipi:)ed them also. Major Sedwick also promised me land, and, 
like Colonel Sumner, tol<l me whenever I wanted anything to call upon the Govern- 
ment and they would grant it. 

Again, in the fall of 1861, at the request of Major-General Fremont, I raised a com- 
pany of 54 Delawares and proceeded, under the instruction of Maj. F. Johnson, our 
agent, and at the recjuest of General Fremont, to Springfield, Mo. We had no fight 
this time, but we did all that was required of us, and we went l)ack to Sedalia with 
General Fremont, and then he paid us off and discharged us. At this time also, (len- 
eral Fremont i)ronused me KiO acres of land and told me also that at any time I wanted 
anything of the Government to let them know and I should surely have it. 



I 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 1(^5 

In the summer of 1862 I went out under Colonel Ritchie, of Topeka, Kans. (and 
nad a lijjrht near Fort Gibson; we saw the enemy, the Choctaw Indians, the half- 
breed; we i)Iay ball with them; 50 we laid on the ground; 60 we took jirisoners, 
even the Ciioctaw treneral; him I took myself alone; he was a big sesesli; 100 Union 
men he had killed. 1 broutrht him to the Chemkees; they killed him; they gave 
him no time to live), and Colonel Ritchie made me the same pron)ise that the other 
officers did. I was captain of a company of 86 Dela wares, under Colonel Ritchie, 
for about four or five months, and have not yet ever received one cent for these 
services, nor have any of my men yet been paid for these same services, although we 
all served faithfully and furnished our own horses. 

I write to you now to ask you to see that I get pay for all these services, according 
to promises made me, and that my men also get their pay. We have always served 
the Government of the United States faithfully whenever the Government keeps its 
promise to us. * * * 

I am, very respectfully, 

Capt.mx Fa 1.1, Leaf. 
Signed in presence of — 

W.M. J. McNeil Cloigh. 
Paul Jordan. 
I forgot one thing more. We wisii you would ask the President to send our men 
all home. We do not wish to have them discharged away from home. We want 
them sent l)ack home and then discharged. We are afraid of our homes, and we 
want the men at home to protect our own women and chihh-en and our own prop- 
erty. We wish you would also let us have about 200 guns, with powder and lead, 
so that we may be ready in case any danger arises at any time. 
You will please direct your answer to — 

Capt. Fall Leaf, 
(Care Wm. McNeil Clough, Leavenworth Citv, Kans. ) 
Hon. W. P. Dole, 

Commissioner of Indian A fairit, Waxhington Cih/, D. C. 



CHAPTER V. 

For a brief space the Delaware Indians enjoyed comparative rest in their new 
Kansas home. They had yielded to the pressure of the resistless tide of white immi- 
gration, and had been forced backward from the waters of the Chesapeake and Dela- 
ware bays, step by step, sometimes with their reluctant consent, but more often by 
force, and always under the alluring promise that their new home should be pre- 
served to them for all time, and that they should never again be disturbed. 

Their peace, however, was of short duration, and their dream of a home secure 
from the rapacity of the white man was soon found to be as evanescent as it had ever 
been in the past. Hardly had they become accustomed to their surroundings and 
begun to feel somewhat satistied witli their new situation when the tide of Western 
home seekers began to make its appearance. 

" Tho first low wash of waves where soon 
Shall roll a human .sea." 

They were soon encompassed on every side by settlers, and the history of their 
difficulties and discouragements was again repeated, their lands coveted and tres- 
passed upon, their timl)er init and destroyed. They were denied the jirotection of 
the law to either their property or persons, and in the hope of satisfying the <lemands 
of their neighbors and of the Government were persuaded, in 1854, to enter into a 
treaty witli the United States l)y which they cedeil 558,555.46 acres of the clioicest 
of their lands in trust, which brought them $1,054, 948. .'^7, and at the same time to 
cede to the Uniteil States what was known as the "Outlet," a tract containing more 
than 1,000,000 acres, for the paltry sum of $10,000. That this was a scheme con- 
cocted in defiance of the law and in violation of former treaty provisions is suffi- 
ciently evidenced by the fact that this treaty was never consented to by the Indians 
in general council, and that the .$10,000 referre<l to was pai<l to the men who signed 
the treaty on behalf of the Delaware Nation. The main body of the Delawares, 
exasperated and outraged by this procee<ling, were cajoled into ai (luiescence by 
the specious argument that although the proceeding was irregular and unjust, yet as 
it would doubtless result in their perpetual peace and undisturbed possession of their 
remaining lands, it was worth the sacrifice. 



166 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Here again the fair promises ever held out as an inducement to the Indian to part 
with liis birthriglit were as ehisive as before, for no sooner had the lands thus sur- 
rendered been occupied than the pressure became as intolerable as ever. 

In the meantime the railroad had made its appearance in the land and was 
demanding of the politician at home and the Administration at Washington the 
removal of the Delavvares to some other and more remote place, in order that it 
might have the benefit of their possessions for speculative purposes. With the reap- 
I^earance of this resistless enemy of the Indian and tlie reservation system, the Dela- 
wares realized that their doom was sealed. The railroad and the settler pressed the 
politician, the politician i^ressed the Administration, and the Administration pressed 
the Indians. 

The Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western Railroad Company desired a large portion 
of the lands remaining to the Delawares, and sought to effect arrangements for acquir- 
ing them. The history of the schemes resorted to for this purpose would exceed 
the limits of this volume. Suffice it to say the struggle became a triangular one, the 
Delawares seeking to retain the little remnant of ground left to them, the raih-oad 
company seeking to accjuire it by any means, fair or foul, and the white settler need- 
ing and seeking a means of securing a home upon it, and in doubt and perplexity as 
to the extent of his rights. 

This situation is perhaps as well illustrated as it can be by a letter, written in 
March, 1862, by one of the settlers to the Hon. Lyman Trum))ull, then a United 
States Senator from the State of Illinois, as follows: 

Elwood, Kans., March 2:^, 1863. 
Hon. Lyman Trumbull. 

Dear Sir: I wish some information about the Delaware Indians. I will just state 
that our Senators, Lane and Ponieroy, in speeches and otherwise, urged the settle- 
ment of those lands, and as a consequence about 2,000 people are upon those lands, 
man}' of them refugees from oppression in Missouri, desiring to make homes for 
their families in the truly loyal State of Kansas. 

Now, we have recently heard that they will be driven from there to make room 
for an imaginary railroad comjtany, who, I 1)elieve, will not come up to their agree- 
ment with the Government. 

They have advertised to sell said lands and take one-third of the purchase money, 
when, if a man comes with |5, they will take it and make out his papers for |50, 
$100, or $200, and get all they can. 

They also have agents in all the towns around to sell land, and if they can not sell 
lands sell the timber off the lands for firewood, rail, and saw timber at a small price. 
I will send you one of their notices. The timber is being cut at a dreadful rate now. 

Sir, if they had the lands "bona fide," would they thus willfully destroy the tim- 
ber? I have recently passed through the reserve, and the timber near Lawrence 
and Oskaloosa is very nnich destroyed already. 

I hope, sir, you will call the attention of the President to these facts and let me 
know all about it by letter. 

I dislike troubling our Senators at this time, but it is an important matter to at 
least 2,000 as good and loyal people as there are to be found. 

And indorsing your course as a statesman for many years, I liave taken the 
liberty to claim your time and patience. 

Please write at your earliest convenience and give me all the information you can. 

Please send us occasionally some public documents. 

Very res])ectfully, your friend, P. C. Ferguson. 

The result of all this was that the railroad company acquired 223,966.78 acres of 
the Delaware lands for $286,742.15, including the choicest corn land of that famous 
region, then worth many times tlie price paid for it. This, together with some 36 
sections conveyed to the Wyandottes in 1848, reduc^ed the Delaware holding to 
100,092.41 acres. Even the nominal i)rice thus agreed upon was not paid to the 
Indians at once, but its payment was deferred for many years, and in the meantime 
the Indians were given security ui)on 100,000 acres only of the land they had sold, 
the railroad company, in the meantime, having the right to sell 123,966.78 acres 
without a particle of security, which they immediately did. The prices realized by 
the railroad com])any ranged fi'om $20 to $.')() per acre, making a net prolit of about 
$4,000,000 on the Indians' land without a cent of investment. This unconscionable 
trade was entered into by the Indians, not of their own wish, but they were forced 
into it by a series of oppressions and embarrassments. The white settlers were- 
demanding the removal of the Indians fnun the State, that their lands might be 
opened to settlement. In order to harass and annoy them, legislation was enacted 



MEMORIAL OB' THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 167 

subjecting their lands and improvements to taxation, in direct violation of the specific 
provisions of their treaty, and the}' were threatened with tax sales on ai-count of non- 
payment. As has been shown, their farms were invaded and trespassed ui)on, their 
timber destroyed and stolen, and when they asked redress or relief in the local courts, 
it was denied them. At the same time they were urged by politicians and others 
claiming to be their friends to dispose of their lands to the railroad company and 
thus get rid of their vexations and discouragements. 

Thus harassed and irritated beyond further endurance, the Delawares determined 
to again put themselves, if jjossible, out of the reach of their tormentors. A council 
was held, and in May, bS6;>, a conmumication was addressed to the Connnissioner of 
Indian Affairs recjuesting permission to withdraw SSOO of their invested funds, with 
which to defray tlie expenses of a delejration of their people to the Rocky Mountains, 
in the forlorn hope that in those wild and rugged fastnesses they might succeed in 
tinding a harbor of refuge. 

To this plea the Connnissioner of Indian Affairs. Mr. William P. Dole, replied that 
,the Department was not satisfied with the climatic condition lielieved to exist in the 
Rocky Mountain region, and recommended that a location be found in the Indian 
Territory lying between the States of Kansas and Texas. He stated that he greatly 
desired "a removal of the Delawares from Kansas, provided they can find a location 
in the Indian country that can be obtained as a permanent home." 

Practically all the able-bodied men of the Delaware tribe having enlisteil in the 
army of the North, negotiations were suspended until after the war, when treaties 
were entered into between the United States and what are known as the Five Civ- 
ilized Tribes, residing in the Indian Territory, by which it was provided that the 
United States might locate friendly Indians within the territory claimed l)y said tribes 
upon such terms as might be mutually agreed upon. 

On the 4th day of July, 1866, a treaty was finally entered into between the Dela- 
wares and the United States, providing for the removal of the Delawares from the 
State of Kansas to the Indian Territory. In this treaty it was agreed that any Dela- 
ware who desired to remain in Kansas and become a citizen of the United States 
might do so, and receive a share of the land and his proportion of the invested funds 
of the tribe. The names of all the others were carried upon a certain list and were 
to remove to the Indian Territory, where a tract of land of sufficient size to give 160 
acres to each Delaware was to be purchased by the Ignited States, being first selected 
by the Delaware Indians, and was to be paid for out of the funds belonging to the 
Delawares. The members so removing to the Indian Territory were known as 
"Registered Delawares." 

Authority having been given to the Delawares to send a delegation to the Chero- 
kee Nation, for the purpose of examining the country and making a selection, thej- 
appointed Capt. John ('unnor, head chief, Ca]>tain Sarcoxie, Charles Journeycake, 
Joseph Armstrong, Andrew Miller, and Isaac .tourneycake, as such delegates, who 
proceede<l to the Cherokee Nation in the fall of 1866, and, after looking the country 
over, determined to recommend "that part of the country on the Little Verdigris or 
Caney, beginning at the Kansas line where the ninety-sixth meridian crosses the 
same and running east 10 miles, thencesouthSOmiles, thence west 10 miles, and thence 
north to the place of beginning." 

When the contract of purchase between the Delawares and the Cherokee came to 
be made, the exact location of the lands was left subject to future deterinination. 
The selection made as above, though recommended to the Delaware council, was 
not definitely approved. 

On the Sth day of April, 1867, the formal contract was entered into between the 
Delawares and Cherokee as follows: 

"Articles of agreement made this 8th day of April, A. D. 1867, between the 
Cherokee Nation, represented by William P. Ross, principal chief; Riley Keycs and 
Jesse Bushyhead, delegates duly authorized, parties of the lirst part, and the Dela- 
ware tribe of Indians, represented by John Connor, i)rincipal chief; Charles Jour- 
neycake, assistant chief; Isaac Journeycake and John Sarcoxie, delegates for and on 
behalf of said Delaware tribe, duly authorized, witnesseth: 

"Whereas by the fifteenth article of a certain treaty between the United States 
and Cherokee Nation, ratified August 11, 1866, certain terms were provided, under 
which friendly Indians might be settled upon unoccupied lands in the Cherokee 
country east of the line of 96° of west longitude, the jirice to be ])aid for such lands 
to be agreed on l)y the Indians to be thus iocati-d and the Cherokee Nation, subject 
to the ai)i>roval of the President of the United States; and, whereas by a tn-aty 
))etween the United States and the Delaware tribe of Indians, ratilied .\ugust 1(», 
1866, the removal of said Delawares to the Indian country, south of Kansas, was 
provided for; and, in the fourth article whereof, an agrecmrnt was made by the 



168 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

United States to sell to the Delawares a tract of land, being part of a tract, the ces- 
sion of which by the Cherokee to the United States was then contemplated ; and 
whereas no such cession of land was made by the Cherokee to the United States, 
but, in lieu thereof, terms were provided, as hereinbefore mentioned, under which 
friendly Indians might be settled upon their lands; and whereas a full and free con- 
ference has been had between the representatives of the Cherokee and the Delawares, 
in view of the treaties herein referred to, looking to a location of the Delawares upon 
the Cherokee lands, and their consolidation with said Cherokee Nation; 

Now, therefore, it is agreed between the parties hereto, subject to the approval of 
the President of the United States, as follows: 

"The Cherokee, parties of the first part, for and in consideration of certain pay- 
ments and the fulfillment of certain contlitions hereinafter mentioned, agree to sell 
to the Delawares for their occupancy a quantity of land east of the line of the 96° 
west longitude, in the aggregate equal to 160 acres for each individual of the Delaware 
tribe, who has been enrolled upon a certain register made February 18, 1867, by the 
Delaware agent and on file in the Office of Indian Affairs, being the list of Delawares 
who elect to remove to the ' Indian country,' to which list may be added, only with 
the consent of the Delaware Council, the names of such other Delawares as may, 
within one month after signing of this agreement, desire to be added thereto, and 
the selections of the lands to be purchased by the Delawares may be made by said 
Delawares in any part of the Cherokee reservation east of said line 96° not already 
selected and in possession of other parties, and in case the Cherokee lands shall here- 
after be allotted among the members of said nation, it is agreed that the aggregate 
amount of land herein provided for the Delawares, to include their improvements 
according to the legal subdivisions when surveys are made (that is to say, 160 acres for 
each individual), shall Vje guaranteed to each Delaware incorporated by these articles 
into the Cherokee Nation, nor shall the continued ownership and occupancy of said 
land by any Delaware so registered be interfered with in any manner whatever 
without his consent, but shall be subject to the same conditions and restrictions as 
are by the laws of the Cherokee Nation imposed upon native citizens thereof. 

"Prc)vided that nothing herein shall confer the right to alienate, convey, or dis- 
pose of any such lands except in accordance with the constitution and laws of said 
Cherokee Nation. 

"And the said Delawares, parties of the second part, agree that there shall be paid 
to the said Cherokees from the Delaware funds now held or hereafter received by 
the United States a sum of money equal to one dollar per acre for the whole amount 
of one hundred and sixty acres of land for every individual Delaware who has 
already been registered upon the aforesaid list, made February 18, 1867, with the 
additions thereto heretofore provided for. 

"And the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and requested to sell any United 
States stocks belonging to the Delawares to procure funds necessary to pay for said 
lands; but in case lie shall not feel authorized, under existing treaties, to sell such 
bonds belonging to the Delawares, it is agreed that he may transfer such United 
States bonds to the Cherokee Nation, at their market value, at the date of such 
transfer. 

"And the said Delawares further agree that there shall be paid from their funds 
now or hereafter to come into possession of the United States a sum of money which 
shall sustain the same proportion to the existing Cherokee national fund that the 
number of Delawares registered as above mentioned and removing to the Indian 
country sustains to the whole number of Cherokees i-esiding in the Cherokee Nation. 
And for the purpose of ascertaining such relative numbers, the registers of the 
Delawares herein referred to, with such additions as maybe made within one month 
from the signing of this agreement, shall be the basis of calculation as to the Dela- 
wares, and an accurate census of the Cherokees residing in the Cherokee Nation 
shall l)e taken under the laws of that nation within four months, and |)roperly cer- 
tified copies thereof filed in the Office of Indian Affairs, which shall be the basis of 
calculation as to the Cherokees. 

"And that there may he no doubt hereafter as to the amount to l)e contributed to 
the Cherokee national fund })y the Delawares, it is herel)y agreed by the parties 
hereto that the whole amount of the invested funds of the Cherokees, after deducting 
all just claims tliereon, is !?678,000. 

"And the Delawares further agree that in calculatiuii the total amount of said 
national fund there shall be added to the said sum of 1678,000 the sum of !?1, 000,000, 
being the estimated value of the Cherokee neutral lands in Kansas, thus making the 
whole Cherokee national fund §1,678,000; and this last-mentioned sum shall be taken 
as the basis for calculating the amount wliich the Delawares are to pay into the com- 
mon fund. 



MEMOKIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 169 

"Provided, that as the 8678,000 of funds now on hand belongino; to the Cherokees 
is chietiy composed of stocks of different vahies, the Secretary of the Interior may 
transfer from the Delawares to the Cherokees a proper jiroportion of the stocks now 
owned by the Deh^wares, of like grade and value, whicli transfer shall l>e in part of 
the pro rata contribution herein provided for by the I)elawares to the funds of the 
Cherokee Nation; but the balance of the jiro rata contribution l)y the Delawares to 
said fund shall l)e in cash or United States bonds, at their market value. 

"All cash and all proceeds of stocks, whenever the same may fall due or be sold, 
received by the Cherokees from the Delawares under the agreement, shall be 
invested and applied in accordance with the twenty-third article of the treaty with 
the Cherokees of August 11, 18«)6. 

"On the fulfillment by the Delawares of the foregoing stipulations, all the mem- 
bers of the tribe registered as above jirovided shall become members of the Chero- 
kee Nation, with the same rights and innnunities, and the same participation (and 
no other) in the national funds, as native Cherokees, same as hereinbefore provided. 
"And the children hereafter born of such Delawares so incorporated into the 
Cherokee Nation shall in all respects be regarded as native Cherokees. 

"Will P. Ross, Pnncipid Chief. 

"Riley Keyes, Cherokee Delegation. 

"John (his x mark) Connok, rrincipal Chief. 

"Charles Journeycake. 

"Isaac Journeycake. 

"John (his x mark) Sarcoxie, Delaware Delegation. 

"Executed and delivered in our presence by the above-named delegates of the 
Cherokee and Delaware nations at the city of Washington, in the District of Colum- 
bia, the day and year first above written. 

"John G. Pratt. 

"W. A. Phillips. 

"Edward S. Menageth. 

"Department of the Interior, April 11, 1867. 
" The within agreement between the Cherokee and Delaware tribes of Indians, 
concluded on the 8th instant, and providing for uniting the two tribes as contem- 
plated by the Cherokee treaty of July 9, 1866, is respectfully submitted to the Presi- 
dent, with the recommendation th^t it be approved. 

"0. H. BR0WNINC4, Secretary. 
"Approved April 11, 1867, 
"Andrew Johnson." 

Although the Delawares had now parted with the last vestige of their lands in 
Kansas, and as in former times had been overreached and figured out of the princi- 
pal part of its value, they were loath to leave their fertile fields and the localities to 
which they had become much attached during a residence of more than thirty years. 
But as fate seemed to have determined that the vicissitudes whii'h had ])ursued them 
for three centuries should not end here, or perhaps as long as a flush of the blood of 
his ancestors should remain upon his l)row, he was hurried and jostled from the 
land, and though illy provided for a journey in winter weather, they began the process 
of removal in the fall and winter, many leaving in Decendjer. The weather was 
extremely cold and damp, and it retjuired many days to make the journey in their 
wagons, driving such stock as they possessed, and incund)cred with their household 
goods, their children, and their aged and sick, many dying along the way. On 
arriving in the Territory they settled upon unoccupied land, each one selei ting for 
himself, and in many instances })urchasing the improvements of such Cherokee as 
were willing to sell. 

It was not an exodus of the whole Delaware people in one body, but each individ- 
ual prepared himself and family for the journey and made it as expeditiously as his 
circumstances pennitted, sometimes a single family going alone, at other times sev- 
eral families joining together. Sometimes it was necessary to return with wagons, 
making two or more trips. Thus it was several months before the removal from the 
Kansas Reservation was entirely accomplished. 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Delaware Indians were by instinct good farmers, as in times past they had by 
instinct been good hunters and warriors. They were accustomed to the raising of 
stock and the tilling of the soil, and at once settled upon and occupietl the lands 



170 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

along the borders of the Verdigris and other streams most favorably adapted to agri- 
culture. At this time the Cherokee were violently opposed to the allotment of their 
land in severalty, it being their fixed determination to hold them in connnon for all 
time, the right to do which had Ijeen guaranteed to them by treaty. Indeed, any 
member of the tribe who at this time would have advocated the division of the lands 
in severalty would not have been able to remain in the country in safety, and several 
holding these views were obliged to flee. The Cherokee, while in some respects 
highly civilized, having a complete governmental organization, with schools, asylums, 
seminaries, etc. , were essentially pastoral in their instincts and habits. They preferred 
to build their houses by the side of streams where the water babliled over rocks; 
where in the summer they could lie in the cool shadows and fish while their herds 
grazed on the open pastures far away. The result was the individual Cherokee selected 
for his home land that was unfitted for agricultural purposes, whereas the Delaware, 
whose purpose was to devote his life to pursuits purely agricultural, selected the 
choicest land for this purpose. 

The Delawares had been located among the Cherokee but a verj^ few years, when 
the superiority of their farms, homes, and the more orderly conduct of their busi- 
ness and social affairs began to attract the notice of travelers and the officers of the 
Government. 

The United States Indian agent for the Five Civilized Tribes, in a report made in 
1890, discussing this condition, says: 

"Among the Delawares nearly every farmer of any pretensions has an orchard. 
Among them we find some of the best merchants, and there are mills of various 
kinds owned by them in the different settlements. Their houses are for the most 
part well built and substantial, and their fences, outhouses, and other improvements 
are well taken care of. No one who has ever visited the Delaware settlements could 
fail to note the fact that they are among the most thrifty and intelligent Indians in 
the entire Indian country." 

This is only in line with the representation made by all persons who have visited 
the settlements of the Delawares from the time of their removal to the Cherokee 
Nation down to the present. Their churches and schoolhouses are notably the most 
commodious, best arranged, and best cared for in the country. The same may be 
said of their homes and their improvements. They have always been an example 
of good. ■ • 

One would suppose that, having paid so liberally for the rights they w'ere to acquire 
in the Cherokee Nation and having selected lands not chosen or occupied by Chero- 
kee, and having come into the country by the invitation of the Cherokee Nation, the 
two people would enjoy peaceful and harmonious relations; in this, again, the Dela- 
wares were destined to meet disappointment, for notwithstanding all these considera- 
tions and good example set to their neighbors, and the general benefits that accrued 
by the settlement of these people within the Indian Territory, petty jealousies began 
to arise at once and discriminations to be made against them. They were numerically 
far in the minority, and local legislation and the administration of public affairs was 
hostile to their interest wherever it was possible for any contrariety to exist. 

It will be noted that under the contract between the Delawares and Cherokee, 
already i-eferred to, the Delawares purchased 157,600 acres of land, for which they 
paid .?i per acre. At this time there were immense tracts of public land in the United 
States of the very highest quality, which the Government was selling at §^1.25 per 
acre and passing a complete fee title thereto. The Cherokee were jealous of white 
settlements in their midst, preferring friendly Indians, and it was for this reason that 
by the 15th article of their treaty with the United States, made in liS66, they had 
provided that the United States might locate friendly Indians among them. Hence, 
it will be seen that the price paid by the Delawares for the lands occupied by them 
was a full and fair market jirice, at the time the contract was made, on the basis of a 
com))l('te transfer of title, in fee simj)le. 

In addition to the purchascof specific tractsat the prices mentioned, the Delawares 
paid into the Cherokee national treasury the sum of $121,824.28, for the purchase of 
equal rights and ('(pial participation in the Cherokee national government and in its 
l)roperty and funds. This amount was determineil, as provided in the treaty of 1866, 
between the United States and the Cherokee, that any tribe to be settled upon 
Cherokee lands should "pay into the national fmid a sum of money, not greater in 
proportion to the whole existing finid than tlieir nundiersbear to the whole number 
of Cherokee." In other words, the Chcrokt'c national fund at this time was found 
to amount to about $123 ]^ev capita, and so the Delawares (985 in number) paid into 
the Cherokee treasury $123 each, amounting to $121,824.28. At this time the Chero- 
kee owned, or claimed to own, a body of land west of the ninety-sixth degree of 
longitude, known as the "Cherokee Outlet" and containing about 8,000,000 acres. 



MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. l7l 

This land was entirely separate from what was known as the " Home Reservation," 
and was from time to time leased to various individuals and c-attle comi^anies for 
grazing and pasturage purposes. A part of the i)rofeeds of these "grass leases" was 
distributed among the various national funds, and a jwirt was from time to time dis- 
tributed, per capita, among the Cherokee. ParticMi)ation in these per I'apita distri- 
butions was denied to the Delawares and to the Shawnee, who liad also jturchased 
rights of citizenship in the Cherokee Nation, liut had imt purchased lantl. 

To correct this discrimination, after vain lemonstrances to the Cherokee Nation, 
the Delawares applied to Congress for authority to bring suit in the Court of Claims 
for the purpose of determining whether or not the rights purchased by them with 
the payment of $^121,824.28 included a share in these "outlet lands." This authority 
having been given, a suit was instituted in the Court of Claims for the purpose of 
requiring the Cherokee Nation to pay to the Delawares their pro rata share of these 
lease moneys, and on the 22d of ]May, lSi)3, a decree was entered in .said court sustain- 
ing the ccmtention of the Delawares an<l holding tliat under their j)urchase of equal 
rights and particijiation in the Cherokee Nation they were entitled to all the rights 
of native Cherokee in and to all the lands, including the "Outlet," and proceeds 
arising therefrom. Ai)peal was taken to the Supreme Court of the I'nited States, 
which subsequently affirmed the opinion of the Court of Claims in a somewhat elab- 
orate opinion to be found in the 155 U. S., pp. 196 et setj. 

While this case was pending on appeal the Cherokee sold the "outlet lands" to 
the (Tovernment for the sum of $8,595,736.12, and as a logical seiiuence to the fore- 
going decision the Delawares were entitled to and did receive their pro rata share of 
the funds arising from such sale. 

The insistence by the Delawares upon their just rights in respect to the matters 
involved in the foregoing suit seemed to further irritate the Cherokee, who now 
sought on every hand for pretexts to annoy and discriminate against the Delawares. 

Personal feuds became common, and many lives were lost. Delaware meetings, 
services in their churches, and social functions were interrupted and broken up. The 
courts being exclusively under the control of the Cherokee, ajipeals to them for pro- 
tection or redress were unavailing, and the Delawares again found themselves in the 
position of being without the protection of the law either to their persons or property. 

The Cherokee now set up the claim that liy thepurcha.«e of land at SI |)er acre, 
under the agreement of 1867, the Delawares acquired no title, but a mere right of 
occupancy during the lifetime of those who were living and registered at the time 
the contract was entered into. This claim was an afterthought, as all the utterances 
and expressions of the parties to the contract and the officers of the Cherokee Nation 
abundantly show, as has been shown, the amount paid, and which was all paid at 
once in cash, was a high price for the land. At this time many of the Delawares, 
beneficiaries of the agreement, were old and infirm, some of them 80 and even 90 
years of age, and had no expectancy of life, and as a matter of fact many of them 
Hied after the contract was made and l)efore the lands were occupied. Siime 200 of 
those who were registered and for whose Ijenefit §32,000 of the consideration money 
was paid never went into possession of the land and never removed to the Indian 
Territory. This circumstance is of itself sufficient to indicate that it was not the 
intention of the Delawares to purchase a mere life estate, for had it been they never 
would have included these aged and infirm members who it was hardly possible 
could enjoy any of the benefits. It was manifestly the expectation that this absolute 
purchase should inure to them and their children or their desct-ndants. The uniform 
utterances of the officers of the Ciierokee Nation, and of tliose auth<u-ized to speak 
for it, indicate tlie same understanding upon their part. The delegation, comjicKsed 
of Chief Bnshyhead, one of the most distinguished men the nation has ever proiluced, 
and others, in an official signed communication to the Senate Conunittee on Indian 
Affairs, as late as June, 1890, say: 

"As has Ijeen seen, the Delawari's purchased 157,600 acres of Cherokee lands lying 
east of the ninety-sixth degree. That was an absolute and unconditional inn-chase, 
and in which lands the Cherokee Nation has no title or interest." 

In the argument before the Court of Claims and in tlie Supreme Court, in the case 
of the Delawares against the Cherokee Nation, already n-ferred to, the attonu^vs for 
the Cherokee repeatedly took, as a datum jjoint in the argument, the ground that 
this purchase was absolute and unconditional, and that as to this land the Cherokee 
Nation thereafter ceased to have any interest of any nature or kind whatsoever. In 
their brief, filed in the Supreme Court (p. 16), they say: 

"It will be further observed that, by the agreement between the Cherokee and 
the Delawares, an absolute purchase at $1 jier acre was made of a specitic amount of 
land — 160 acres for each man, woman, and child of the Delawares. .\s shown by 
the report of the Indian Office there were 985 Delawares, requiring, at KU) acres 



172 MEMORIA.L OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

each, 157,600, which, at the agreed price amounted to $157,600, which was exactly 
the amount paid to the Cherokees in accordance with the term.s and provisions of 
the fourth article of the Delaware treaty of 1866, and the fifteenth article of the 
Cherokee treaty of 1866." 

It will be noted that the fourth article of the Delaware treaty of 1866, above 
referred to, is unusually definite in its terras. It provides that "the United States 
agrees to sell to the Delaware Indians a tract of land — to be selected by the Dela- 
wares — equal to 160 acres for each man, woman, and child who shall remove to said 
country — to be paid for by the Delawares out of the proceeds of the sale of land in 
Kansas. The said tract of land shall be set off with clearly and permanently marked 
boundaries by the United States, and also surveyed as public lands are surveyed, 
when the Delaware council shall so request, when the same may, in whole or in part, 
be allotted by said council to each member of said tribe residing in said territory." 

How unnecessary it was to provide for the survey of these lands and the marking 
of the same by permanent boundaries if the same was intended to remain a part of 
the Cherokee domain, with only a life interest for the Delawares then registered, 
and, on the other hand, how easy it-would have been to have said that the purchase 
which was to be made with the funds and moneys of the Delawares procured at such 
enormous sacrifice were to be held by an estate less than that by which the Cherokee 
hold their reservation. 

CHAPTER VII. 
OF THEIR RELIGION. 

The Delaware Indians had a religion of their own, perhaps as old or older than 
the Christian religion, and to this day some of them adhere to that faith. In the 
forks of the Caney River, in the Cherokee Nation, about nine miles south of Caney, 
Kans., their dance house now stands, and in the full moon of every autunni about 
one-fourth of the tribe assembles here to give thanks to the Great Spirit. Indians 
of other tribes mav take part and sometimes do. Their dance usually lasts about 
twelve days. There the story of their ancient religion, is told, and each person who 
feels like doing so may enumerate the blessings the tribe has received, and after each 
one they say, "and for this we are thankful." This is done before they begin to 
dance. As they dance the leader sings and all take part who wish; he often stops 
and exhorts the people on the various parts of the religion, and frequently says, 
" forgetful we are not when sorrow and tribulations come that the Great Spirit will 
hear an earnest appeal O-o-o-o-o (here each one holds up his right hand), and we 
need not ask Him what we want, for better than we He knows our needs, and recog- 
nized at once our cry of distress." In relating the origin of this religion the leader 
often says, "and better than this, said the Great Spirit, my people are these Dela- 
wares." Those who believe in this faith are quite sincere, and seem to be as good 
citizens as the Christian Indians. 

Notwithstanding their devotion to their own religious belief, many have sought 
the white man's religion, and as early as the middle of the eighteenth century, when 
the ]\Ioravians visited the Delaware country in the eastern part of I'ennsylvania, 
they immediately began to furnish teachers. These teachers were not ordained min- 
isters at first, but they were formally set apart for the work by the authorities of the 
church because they were competent to teach and exhort. These were the Mora- 
vian Indian Helpers, or as they were sometimes called, "Assistants." 

One of the first of these we know simply as "Anthony," for the practice of the 
Moravians at that time was to baptize their converts in some simple name, which was 
used thereafter in preference to their Indian names. When he was a warrior he 
was a man to be feared, but after hearing the gospel he was truly a converted man 
and })reached the gospel until he died. We know but little about his special work 
except that he was associated with Zeisberger, the Moravian missionary, and was 
Avith him on the trip to Goschgoschunk on the Big Beaver, which has become better 
known through Benjamin West's famous painting, " Zeisberger at Goschgoschunk." 
It was here and at this time that Glikkikin, the war chief of the Wolf Clan, was 
converted. 

Other names might be added, such as Job Calloway, Jackob Shebosh, John Paj)un- 
haidv, and Captain Johny, the lattter of which had taken a consi)icuous part with 
Glikkikin in Pontiac's war, and at the c^Iose of that war was one of the chiefs 
taken to Pittsburg as a hostage for the good behavior of his tribe. At the time of 
his conversion he was the head war chief of the Turkey Clan. The story of each of 
these, and many more who were equally prominent heljiers, are l>ut chapters in the 
long story of the Moravian missions among the Indians. It can be but outlined here, 
however. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 173 

The first Moravian mission in thie Delaware country in which onh' Indians were 
permitted to Hve was Friedenshntten (Tents of Peace), which was a short dis- 
tance from the present city of Bethlehem, Pa. This town grew rapidly, and as it 
was so near the white settlements, it was decided to emitrrate, and a short time later 
Gnailenhutten was l)uilt farther to the west at the junction of Mahoney ("reek and 
Lehijrh river. Tiiis town lieinsi well sitnateil <irew witii great rapidity, and was rein- 
forced l)y emigrations from a number of other Indian towns established by Moravians 
among the ^Mohican and other tribes, and with tlicm the Delaware village, called 
Meniolagameka, joined the Gnadenhutten congregation in 1751. Some branch mis- 
sions were established at other points. But all this was blotted out on Xovem])er 24, 
1755, when a band of Iroquois attacked (inadenhutten and massacred such of the 
inhalntants as they could find. Fortunately at that time they were divi<led into 
numerous hunting parties and scattered through the woods and the murderere missed 
them. This is now known as the massacre at (inadenhutten on the Mahoney, as a 
more lamentable one occnrreil later at a namesake of this town in Ohio. 

The converts of these missions then moved to Bethlehem. The story of their 
hardship during the French and Indian war can not be referred to. Near its close, 
however, new towns were established, \Vechquetauk being especially intended for 
the Delaware converts. 

It was not until 1767 that Zeisberger and Anthony visited the western part of 
Pennsylvania. The following year they returned and laid out the town of Friedens- 
hntten, and later the villages of Sheshequon and Lawunakhannck were built for the 
Delawares, and two years later (1770) the settlement was made on the Big Beaver in 
King Pakanke's country, heretofore referred to. But westward march was still the 
command, and the Muskingum (now Tuscarawas) Valley in Ohio was where they 
were to make their longest stand. Olikkikin joined the Moravians and accompanied 
Zeisberger to the west. In 1772 Schoenbrun on the Muskingum was founded for 
the Delawares, and Gnadenhutten, 8 miles farther down the river, was set apart for 
the ^lohicans which had emigrated to the Delaware country, and such other tribes 
as cared to locate there. Here they lived in comparative peace and jilenty, for 
although there were wars between the surrounding trilies and the colonists, the Dela- 
wares, and especially the Moravians, remained neutral, and being cultivators of the 
soil the earth responded to their efforts with an abundance of grain and vegetables. 
All travelers passing through the Ohio country stopped at (rnadenhutten or Schoen- 
brun, the Moravian settlements, and Newcomerstown, and later Coshocton, the Dela- 
ware capitals. The advance in civilization which had been made by the entire tribe 
was always a matter of comment, and in many diaries of travelers through those 
sections are expressions of surprise at what was found. 

In 1773 Rev. David Jones, a Baptist preacher, passed through Newcomerstown and 
records this: "I returned to Newcomerstown in the afternoon and went to see Cap- 
tain Killbuck, who is a sensible Indian and uses us with part of the complaisance of 
a gentleman. He speaks good English, so that I conversed on the subject of preach- 
ing." Further in this conversation Killbuck explained to him why the Moravians 
had such a hold on the Delawares. It was because they never made war upon the 
Indians. He remarked that some Presbyterians wanted to establish a mission in their 
country, but as the Presltyterians had fought them and tried to kill them before, 
they could not put faith in their teachings. But the time came when these Moravian 
settlements were to pass away. The Revolutionary war began at Lexington and 
spread southward and westward, until the whole country east of the Mississippi was 
in a state of turmoil. Most of the Indians of the West were under the influence of 
the British. The Delawares and ^loravians remained neutral. Finally, in 1781, the 
British commandant at Detroit gave orders to have the Moravian Indians moved 
nearer Detroit, because their towns were being used as halfway houses by their ene- 
mies. This was accomplished to the discomfort and against the will of the Moravians 
late in the fall of that year. The country to which they were taken, near Sandusky, 
Ohio, was cold and barren, and their stock of supplies ran so low that at cme time 
they had but three grains of corn each upon which to exist. They had left plenty 
at Gnadenhutten and Schoenbrun, so they sent details back to procure food. It 
wa.s on one of these expeditions that a body of Pennsylvania militia met them. 

A murder occurred in western Pennsylvania. The militia gathered to pursue the 
offender, and traced him to Gnadenhutten. When the militia arrived, of course 
the offenders had retired still farther, but being made uj) of men in whom there was 
a general hatred for the whole Indian race, they inveigled the converts, by calling 
them Christians and talking on religious matters, into two hou.>;es, after which they 
suddenly showed their traitorous designs, made them pri.^oners, and the following 
day killed 100 in cold blood — all except 2, who were fortunate enough to escape. 
Then they set fire to the town and committed such destruction that there was no 



174 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

desire for those who had not been captured at Gnadenhutten to return, but rather 
they sought a home still farther from the scene of their foniier joys and sorrows than 
the British had taken them. Thus a second time the Delaware tribe had to witness 
the murder of their people who had accepted the paleface's religion and who were 
trying to follow the teachings of the Xazarene. 

Immediately after the Revolutionary war the remnant of the ^Moravians located at 
Fairfield, Canada, and, as theretofore, they prospered. But again the paleface race 
which had sent them teachers resorted to war. The British and Americans again 
measuretl strength in the war of 1812. General Harrison was sent with an army to 
invade Canada, artd Fairfield not only lay in the path of his march but on the bat- 
tlefield of the Thames, and a third time the Moravian settlements were laid waste 
by war. But their faith was superior to their discouragements. New Fairfield was 
started near the scene of the old. But other circumstances intervened, such as the 
advance of the borderers and white settlers, which was always a menace to the mis- 
sions, and they did not prosper. 

The Delawares who remjiined in the States were sent to a reservation in Kansas 
about 1833, and four years thereafter, 1837, the Moravians from New Fairfield 
resolved to and most of them also emigrated to Kansas, where they established the 
town of Westfield. There they are to-day, under the care of Rev. Joseph Romig, 
the last Moravian missionary to the now-called "Moravian Indians." 

It might be proper to refer here to one Delaware from this Ijand who became an 
ordained minister in the Moravian Church, Rev. John Henry Killbuck. He is a direct 
descendant of William Henry Killbuck, who, in conjunction with Captain White 
Eyes, did so much for the Americans during the border wars of the Revolution. 
The ancestor, William Henry Killbuck, was born in 1737, about the time Zeisberger 
began his missionary labors among the Delawares. He was "one of his tribe," and 
when his people joined the French in the French and Indian war Killbuck led a 
party of Delawares against Braddock and Washington. They met on the field made 
famous by Braddock' s defeat. Killbuck was womided and captured. By the inter- 
position of Colonel Henry, Killbuck' s life was saved — an act which Killbuck never 
forgot, and ever after he was a friend of the. Americans and the Moravians. He 
adopted the name of his benefactor as his own, and ever since, according to the 
Indian custom, the name "Henry" is a part of the name of everyone of the family 
of Killbuck. He died in 1811. After the Revolution William Henry Killbuck and 
his sons joined the Moravians. Just fifty years after, John Henry Killbuck was 
born. He took the ordinary course of study which his paleface brothers enjoyed, 
and grailuated from the Moravian Theological Seminary in 1884, after which he 
served one year as a missionary at the Indian mission in Canada, and then accepted 
a call to assist in starting the Moravian mission on the Kuskokwim River in Alaska. 
A few years later he returned to the State where he is now living. 

After the Delawares moved west of the Mississippi the Moravians discontinued 
their labors among them, with the exception of the mission at Westfield, Kans. 
The Baptists, however, established churches, and although they did not push the 
work the conversion of several Indians gave it a start so that it moved of its own 
force. 

The older of these was Charles Journeycake, born December 16, 1817, near San- 
dusky, Ohio. During the first year of his life a treaty was made which disposed of 
the dhio lands to the United States, but land was promised them west of the Mis- 
sissippi. They were permitted to remain on the land for three years thereafter, 
and in addition they were to receive horses and boats for transportation down the 
Father of Waters. The three years was extended to eleven before they were started, 
and it was in 1829 before they reached their new Kansas home. Arriving there they 
found that Isaac McC'oy had preceded them for the purpose of starting a mission. 
The teachings found a fertile soil in the mind of young Journeycake, and he and 
his mother and father soon became converted to the new religion and formed the 
nucleus of the Delaware Baptist Church. Soon after his conversion he began 
preaching. But little is known of the spiritual history of the tribe for the first 
thirty years after the emigration to Kansas. In the year ]86() the tribe was forced 
to give up its possessions in Kansas, and was moved to the Indian Territory. Here, 
on Novendjer 8, 1871, they organized a church of eleven members, and within a year 
had Iniilt a meeting house. But they had nf) minister. On one occasion they had 
to send 40 miles t'o secure one, in order to baptize oO converts. While Charles 
Journeycake had been exhortingfor years he was not ordained. But the need became 
so great that when 55 years of age he took that step which made him a minister of 
the gosjjel. His church prospered, and within four years from the date of organiza- 
tion their membership increased ninefold. But periods of depression come to all. 
On March 8, 1876, just ninety-fouryears to the day after the Gnadenhutten massacre, 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 175 

a tornado passed through the Delaware coiiiinunity, and their church was wrecked. 
For several years thereafter they had no i)lace "to worship, but anew house was 
later constructed, and on May 9, 1879, it was dedicated. 

All this was hroutrht aliout throujih the ener<ries of Reverend Journeycake. Old 
a<xe came ui>on him and lie Ijecame unable to care for his church. The Baptist con- 
ference sent a new man to take charge of the work, but Reverend Journeycake assisted 
until his death, .January ■>, 1894. 

The other Baptist minister to whom reference was made was Rev. William Adams. 
He was born on November 13, 188.3, on the Verdigris River, north of C'laremore 
Mound. The Delawares were out hunting, and while they were camjiing, on the 
night the stars fell, he was born. When a baby the Delawares used to t-all him in 
their language "Shooting Star." Afterwards, when he grew up, his name was 
Wa leh ohp seek, which the teachers at the mission school changed to William 
Atlams. 

On June 12, 18.53, he joined the First Baptist Church in Kansas and was V)aptized. 
After laboring as an etticient lay mend)er in this church for nearly fifteen years, he 
was licensed to preach the gospel on February 1, 1868, and on Mari-h 14 of the same 
year was ordained to the full work of the gospel ministry. He felt his preparation 
was insufficient and was prej^aring to attend Rochester when ditliculties, whii'h were 
real obstacles, prevented, and thus he launched out into his life work. He preached 
in many places in Kansas and the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, and anlently 
carried the message to those who otherwise would never have heard of Christ. Dur- 
ing his niinistry of thirty years in the Territory he did not receive, all told, .S500 for 
his services. A noble record for so long a ministry. 

He was married to Miss Kate Woodtield on September G, 1863, by Rev. J. C. Pratt, 
at the Delaware Baptist mission chapel in Kansas. 

He was almost 69 vears of age when he died at St. Joseph's Hospital, Kansas Citv, 
Mo., on August 29, 1*902. 

One of his last reijuests was that members of his own tril)e should continue the 
work he was obliged to leave. 

At the present time the only ordained Delaware preacher is Rev. John Sarcoxie, 
who is over 50 yeai-s old. He was born in Kansas and joined the church at the age 
of 18. After fifteen years' service as a layman, he was licensed to pn-ach on Sep- 
tember 16, 1884, by the mother Delaware church at AUuwe, Ind. T. He exercised 
his gifts as a licentiate for nearly four years, when, on May 21, 1888, he was ordained 
to the full w()rk of the gospel ministry. 

He is well and favorably known by all his tribe, among whom he breaks the 
bread of life. He has preached at many points besides his mother church. For 
many years he preached without receiving any compensation, but at present the 
Delawares are paying him a small salary and he is devoting much of his time to 
their interests. 

This list would be incomplete without mention of Rev. James Ketchum, a Dela- 
ware Indian who was converted to the INIethodist faith. He w'as born about 1819, 
and preached in his own language at White Church, Delaware Reservation, in 
Kansas, and to a portion of the Delawares in the Cherokee Nation after their 
removal in 1868. lie was ordained to the full work of the ministry some time about 
1860, and was considered one of the most eloquent orators in the Delaware tribe. 



Note 1. — Tlie Wfihini Ohnn. — It is (juite difficult to explain, without having before 
us the original text, the Walam Olum, a most interesting and instructive legend of 
the Lenni Lenapi. But it is .so extensive that it would occupy, if presented in its 
entirety, far more space than can be allotted to it in this little volume. The curious 
reader who desires to pursue his inquiries further will lind it pn'sented in full in the 
work of Brinton, entitled "The Lenaiieand tln-ir Legends," illuminated by an exten- 
sive and learned treatise upon its history, charai'ter, and meaning. 

The i)ictographic system which the Walam Olum j)resented is evidently that of 
the Western .Mgonkins. These symbols are carefully and accurately reproduced iu 
the work of Brinton abf)ve referred to. 

Walam wwawh painted, especially painted red. 

Ohnn was the name of the scores, marks, or figures in use on the tally sticks or 
record boards. 

The name Walam Ohnn may therefore be translated Bed Snnr. 

The manuscript from which Brinton printed the legend was a small (juarto of 40 
unnumbered leaves, in the handwriting of Constantine Samuel RaHncsi|ur, to whom 
we owe the preservation and first translation of the Walam Olum. 



176 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

These pictographs or signs were intended to keep in memory the chants that were 
orally recited. No people on earth hold in reverence, in life, to a higher degree, 
their chiefs and warriors, nor cherish their memories with greater care, than the 
Delawares, which is done by frequent recitals of their deeds of excellence, whether 
as hunters, orators, or warriors. 

The chants of the Walam Olum are rhythmic and metrically arranged, as is distin- 
guishable by the ear of the hearer, listening to the recitation, though he is not famil- 
iar witli the language. 

The Walam Olum is divided into five parts or chapters — the first containing 24 
verses; the second, 16; the third, 20; the fourth, 64, and the fifth, 60. 

It, as a whole, presents the traditions of the Delawares in regard to the Creation 
and Ontogeny, of the Deluge, of the passage to America, arrival in America, settle- 
ment in Ohio, from Ohio to the Atlantic States and back to Missouri. 

The document is confirmatory of the traditions of the Lenni Lenape, derived by 
the missionaries and others from distinct sources. It depicts the happy days when 
men lived without war or sickness, and food at all times was abundant. 

I quote from the first part, by way of example, a few of the verses, fairly illus- 
trating the manner and style of the whole work: 

On the earth an extensive fog, 

There the Great Manito was 
At first, forever, lost in space. 

EviTywlK-re the Great Manito was. 
He made the extended land and the sky; 

He made the sun, the moon, the stars"; 
He made them all to move evenly. 

Ke gave the first Mother, the Mother of Beings. 
As they journeyed, some Ijeing strong, some rich. 

They separated into house builders and hunters. 
The strongest, the most united, the purest, were the hunters. 

The names of their chiefs are many, scattered through the AValam Olum. 

Whatever its origin, the Walam Olum is a most ingenious work, consistent with 
itself, and its principal statements supported from other sources. 

Note 2. — The following is from New Views of the Origin of the Tribes and 
Nations of America, by Benjamin Smith Barton, M. D., published in 1798: 

"At the head of the column of Americans I have uniformly placed the Delawares 
or, as they call themselves, Lenni-Lenape. I have followed this arrangement because 
I believe we are better acquainted with the language of this tribe than with that of 
any other in North America, because they are acknowledged to be of more ancient 
establishment in the country than many others, and because their language appears 
to have a greater spread than that of any of the numerous nations of this great con- 
tinent. 

" The name by which these Indians are best known, that of Delawares, was imposed 
upon them by the English, because they inhabited the waters of the river Delaware. 
The French writers call them Loups. They, as I have already observed, call them- 
selves Lenni-Lenape, which signifies the Original People. 

"The Delawares tell us that they were formerly a very powerful people, inhabit- 
ing the country to a great distance, and spreading along the seashore far east and 
south, etc. The great spread of their language, which is afterwards to be attended to, 
seems to show that this must have been the case. 

" All the Indian nations known to me on this side of the Mississippi call the Dela- 
wares their grandfather, if we except the Six Nations, the Wyandots, Cochnewagoes, 
and the southern tribes called Cheerake, Muskohge, Chikkasaw, Choktah, etc. These, 
it will be evident from an inspection of my vocabularies, as well as from attending to 
what is afterwarilsto be mentioned, speak languages which, though not radically dif- 
ferent from that of the Delawares, are, however, much more distant from it than are 
the languages of the Chippewas, Shawnees, Miamis, Narragansets, and several others 
which are mentioned in my larger lists of American nations above the Senecas, who 
are one of the Six Nations. 

" As far as I have been able to learn anything on the subject, the Delaware Nation 
consists of three tribes, viz, the Unamis or Wannmi, the .Unalachtigo or Wunalach- 
tigo, and the ]Minsi or Monsees. It is certain that there had been a fourth tribe, 
which was small, and has pas.«ed away, leaving not a name behind. The ]Mahicanna 
or Mohicans are certainly s]>rung from the IViawares, but are not comprehended by 
these last as a branch in making up tiieir nation. 

" All the Indian nations to the southward and westward, etc., distinguish the Dela- 
wares by the name VVapanachki, or Pco)>le toward the rising of the Sun. The Wyan- 
dots and the Six Nations call them their nephews, and the Delawares acknowledge 
them to be their uncles." 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 177 

Note 3. — Benjamin Smith quotes from a work entitled "A Concise Natural History 
of East and West Florida." New York, 1776, as follows: 

"This author says he does not believe that the red men of America have come 
'from the westward out of the East of Asia.' 'I am lirmly of ojMnion,' says he, 
'that God created an orij^inal man and woman in this ])art of the globe of different 
species from any in the other parts, and if perchance in the Russian dominions, there 
are a people of similar make and manners, is it not more natural to think they were 
colonies from the numerous nations on the continent of America than to imagine 
that from the small comparative miml:)er of those Russian subjects such a vast 
country should have been so numerously peopled?' 

" Psychically the North American in itis own state is peculiarly haughty, serious, 
habitually taciturn and grave, yet on occasion eloquent and naively imaginative; full 
of simple, childlike wonderment and trustfulness, till suspicion has been aroused; 
with plenty of slumbering passion, which excited becomes overmastering; in warfare 
stealthy, soft-paced, cumiing, treacherous, with unslakal)le fury of revenge when the 
enemy is in his clutch; yet remarkably cool and stoical in outward manner, suffering 
with proud nonchalance the utmost extremity of fate. Altogether he is somewhat 
of a sad, soft, serious, passionate, pathetic personage. 

"All signs then would seem to favor the theory that the native Americans are as 
indigenous to the country as are its peculiar fauna and flora, or, at all events, if they 
did originally issue from Asia, it must have been in a most remote prehistoric time." 
(Chamber's Encyclopedia. ) 

Note 4. — The hrst Hague was, according to this, in America. 

In President Roosevelt's book. The Winning of the West, we find the following: 

"The Delawares, whose fate it had been to be ever buffeted about by both the whites 
and the reds, had long cowered under the Iroquois terror, but they had at last 
shaken it off, had reasserted the superiority which tradition says they once before 
held, and had become a formidable and warlike race. Indeed it is curious to study 
how the Delawares have changed in respect to their martial prowess since the days 
when the whites first came in contact with them. They were then not accounted a 
formidable peojjle and were not feared by any of their neighbors. By the time the 
Eevolution broke out they had become better warriors, and during the twenty years' 
Indian warfare that ensued were as formidable as most of the other redskins. But 
when moved west of the^NIississippi, instead of their spirit being broken they became 
more warlike than ever, and throughout the present century they have been the 
most renowned fighters of all the Indian peoples, and, moreover," thej^ have been 
celebrated for their roving, adventurous nature. Their numbers have steadily 
dwindled owing to their incessant wars and to the dangerous nature of their long 
roamings." 

Heckwelder gives the following account: 

"The French landed in Canada, and it was not long before they and the now 
combined Five Nations, or tribes, were at war with each other, the latter not being 
willing to permit that the French should establish themselves in that countrj-. At 
last the Iroquois, finding themselves between two fires and without any prospect of 
conquering the Lenape by arms, and seeing the necessity of withdrawing with their 
families from the shoi-es of the St. Lawrence to the interior of the country where the 
French could not easily reach them, fell upon a stratagem which they flattered them- 
selves would, if successful, secure to them not only a peace with "the Lenape, but 
also with all the other tribes connected with them; so that they would then have but 
one enemy (the French) to contend with. 

"This plan was very deeply laid, and was calculated to deprive the Lenape and 
their allies not only of their power, but of their military fame, which had exalted 
them above all the other Indian nations. They were to be jiersnaded to abstain 
from the use of arms and assume the station of mediators and umpires among their 
warlike neighl)ors. In the language of the Indians, they were to be made women. 
It must be understood that among these nations wars are never brought to an end 
but l)y the interference of tlie weaker sex. The men, however tired of fighting, are 
afraid of being considered as cowards if they should intimate a desire for peace. 
It is not becoming, say they, for a warrior, with the bloody weapon in his hand, to 
hold pacific language to his enemy. He must show to the end a determined courage 
and appear as ready and willing to fight as at the beginning of the contest. Neither, 
say they, is it proper to threaten and to sue in the same breath, to hold the {>eace 
belt in one hand and the tomahawk in the other. IMen's words, as well as their 
actions, should be of a pice, all good or all bad, for it is a fixed maxim of theirs, 
which they apply on all occasions, that good can never dwell with evil. They al.so 
think that a treaty produced by threats or by force can not be binding. With these 
disiwsitions war would never have ceased among Indians until the extermination of 

S. Doc. 16 12 



178 MEMOEIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

one or the other party, if the tender and compassionate sex had not come forward 
and by their moving speeches persuaded tlie enraged combatants to bury their 
hatchets and make peace with each other. On these occasions they were very elo- 
quent. They would lament with great feeling the losses suffered on both sides, when 
there was not a warrior, perhaps, who had not lost a son, a brother, or a friend. 
They would describe the sorrows of widowed wives and, above all, of bereaved 
mothers. The pains of childbirth, the anxieties attending the progress of their sons 
from infancy to manhood, they had willingly and even cheerfully suffered; but after 
all these trials how cruel it was for them to see those jn'omising youths, whom they 
had reared with so much care, fall victims to the rage of war and a prey to a relent- 
less enemy; to see them slaughtered on the field of battle or put to death as prison- 
ers by a protracted torture in the midst of the most exquisite torments. The thought 
of such scenes made them curse their own existence and shudder at the idea of bear- 
ing children. Then they would conjure the warriors by everything that was dear to 
them to take pity on the sufferings of their wives and helpless infants; to turn their 
faces once more toward their homes, families, and friends; to forgive the wrongs 
suffered from each other; to lay aside their deadly weai)ons and smoke together the 
pipe of peace and amity. They had given on both sides sufficient proof of their 
courage; the contending nations were alike high minded and brave, and they must 
now embrace as friends those whom they had learned to respect as enemies. Speeches 
like these seldom failed of their intended effect, and the women, by this honorable 
function of peacemakers, were placed in a situation by no means undignified. It 
would not be a disgrace, therefore. On the contrary, it would lie an honor to a pow- 
erful nation, who could not be suspected of wanting either strength or courage, to 
assume that station by which they would be the means, and the only means, of pre- 
serving the general peace and saving the Indian race from utter extirpation. 

" Such were the arguments which the artful Mengwe urgeil to the Lenape to make 
them fall into the snare which they had prepared for them. They had reflected, 
they said, deeply reflected on their critical situation; there remained no resource for 
them but that some magnanimous nation should assume the part and situation of 
the woman. It could not be given to a weak or contemptible tribe; such would not 
be listened to; but the Lenape and their allies would at once possess influence and 
command resjiect. As men they had been dreaded, as women they would be 
respected and honored — none would be so daring or so base as to attack or insult 
them; as women they would have a right to interfere in all the quarrels of other 
nations and to stop or prevent the effusion of Indian blood. They entreated them, 
therefore, to become the woman in name and in fact; to lay down their arms and all 
the insignia of warriors, to devote themselves to agriculture and other pacific em- 
ployments, and thus become the means of preserving peace and harmony among the 
nations. 

"The Lenape, unfortunately for themselves, listened to the voice of their enemies. 
They knew it was too true that the Indian nations, excited by their own nnbridled 
passions, and not a little by their European neighbors, were in the way of total ex- 
tirpation by each other's hands. They believed that the Mengwe were sincere and 
that their proposal had no object in view but the preservation of the Indian race. 
In a luckless hour they gave their consent and agreed to become women. This con- 
sent was received with great joy. A feast was prepared for the purpose of confirm- 
ing and proclaiming the new- order of things. With appropriate ceremonies, of which 
Loskiel has given a particular description, the Delawares were installed in their new 
. functions, eloquent speeches were delivered, accompanied, as usual, with belts of 
wampum. The great peace belt and the chain of friendship (in the figurative lan- 
guage of the Indians) was laid across the shoulders of the new mediator, one end of 
which, it was said, was to be taken hold of by all the Indian nations and the other 
by the Europeans. The Lenape say that the Dutch were present at that ceremony 
and had no inconsiderable share in the intrigue." 

Note 5. — Heckewelder, in his Historical Account of the Indian Nations, referring 
to their mode of education, says: 

" It may justly be a subject of wonder, how a nation without a written code of laws 
or system of jurisprudence, without any form or constitution of government, and 
without even a single elective or heriditary magistrate, can subsist together in peace 
and harmony, and in thi' exercise of the moral virtues; how a people can be wetland 
effectually governed without any external autliority; by the mere force of the ascend- 
ancy which men of superior minds have over those of a more ordinary' stamp; by a 
tacil, yet universal submission to the aristocracy of experience, talents and virtuel 
Such, nevertheless, is the spectacle which an Indian nation exhibits to the eye of a 
stranger. I have been a witness to it for a long series of years, and after nuich 
observation and reflection to discover the cause of this phenomenon, I think 1 have 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 179 

reason to be .satistied that it is in a great degree to be ascribed to the pains which the 
Indians take to instill at an early age honest and virtuous })rincii)les upon the minds 
of their chiMren, and to the method which they j)ursue in educating them. This 
method I will not call a system; for systems are unknown to these sons of nature, 
who, by following alone her simple dictates, have at once discovered and follow 
without effort that plain, obvious path which the philosophers of Europe have been 
so long in search of. 

" The tirst step that parents take toward the education of their children is to pre- 
pare them for future happiness by impressing u[)on their tender minds that they 
are indebted for their existence to a great, good, and benevolent Spirit, who not only 
has given them life, but has ordained them for certain great purposes. That he has 
given them a fertile, extensive country, well stocked with game of every kind for 
their subsistence, ami that by one of his inferior spirits he has also sent down to them 
from above corn, pumpkins, squashes, beans, and other vegetables for tlieir nourish- 
ment; all which blessings their ancestoi's enjoyed for a great number of ages. That 
this Great Spirit looks down upon the Indians, to see whether they are grateful to 
him and make him a due return for the many benefits he has bestowed, and, there- 
fore, that it is their duty to show their thankfulness by worshipi)ing him and doing 
that which is pleasing in his sight. 

'"This is in substance the first lesson taught, and from time to time repeated to 
the Indian children, which naturally leads them to reflect and gradually to under- 
stand that a being which hath done such tilings for them, and all to make them 
happy, must be good indeed, and that it is surel\- their duty to do something that 
■vvill please him. They are then told that their ancestors, who received all this from 
the hands of the Great Spirit and lived in the enjoyment of it, must have been 
informed of what would be most pleasing to this good being and of the manner in 
which his favor could be most surely obtained, and they are directed to look up for 
instruction to those who know all this, to learn from them and revere them for their 
wisdom and the knowledge which they possess. This creates in the children a strong 
sentiment of respect for their elders, and a desire to follow their advice and exam- 
ple. Their young ambition is then excited by telling them that they were made the 
superiors of all other creatures, and are to have power over them; great pains are 
taken to make this feeling take an early root, and it becomes in fact their ruling 
passion through life; for no pains are spared to instill into them that by following 
the advice of the most admired and extolled hunter, trapper, or warrior they will 
at a future day acquire a degree of fame and reputation, equal to that which he pos- 
sesses; that by submitting to the counsels of the aged, the chiefs, the men superior 
in wisdom, they may also rise to glory and be called wise men, an honorable title 
to which no Indian is indifferent. They are finally told that if they respect the 
aged and infirm and are kind and obliging to them they will be treated in the same 
manner when their turn comes to feel the infirmities of old age. 

" When this first and most important lesson is thought to be sufficiently impressed 
upon children's minds, the parents next proceed to make them sensible of the dis- 
tinction between good and evil; they tell them that there are good actions and bad 
actions, both equally open to them to do or commit; that good acts are pleasing to 
the Good Spirit which gave them their existence, and that on the contrary all that 
is bad proceeds from the bad spirit, who has given them nothing, and who can not 
give them anything that is good, because he has it not, and therefore he envies them 
that which they have received ironi the Good Spirit, who is farsuperior to the bad one. 

"This introductory lesson, if it may be so called, naturally makes them wish to 
know what is good and what is bad. This the parent teaches him in his own way — 
that is to say, in the way in which he was himself taught by his own parents. It is 
not the lesson of an hour or a day, it is rather a long course more of practical than of 
theoretical instruction, a lesson which is not repeated at stated seasons or times, but 
which is shown, pointed out, and demt)nstrate(l to the child, not only by those under 
whose immediate guardianship he is, but by the whole community, who consider 
themselves alike interested in the direction to be given to the rising generation. 

"When this instruction is given in the form of precepts, it nuist not be suppo.-Jed 
that it is done in an authoritative or forbidding tone, but, on the contrary, in the 
gentlest and most persuasive manner; nor is the parent's auth()rity ever supported by 
harsh or compulsive means; no whips, no punishments, no threats are even used to 
enforce i-ommands or comi)el obedience. The child's pride is the feeling to which 
an appeal is made, which i)roves successful in almost every instance. A father needs 
only to .«ay in the presence of his children: ' I want such a thing done; I want one 
of my children to go upon such an errand; let me see who is the good chilil that will 
do it!' This word 'good' operates, as it were, by magic, and the children immedi- 
ately vie with each other to comply with the wishes of their parent. If a father sees 



180 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

an old decrepit man or woman pa8i< by, led along by a child, he will draw tiie atten- 
tion of his own children to the object ])y saying: ' What a good child that must be, 
which pays such attention to the aged! That child indeed looks forward to the time 
when it will likewise be old!' Or he will say, ' May the Great Spirit, who looks 
upon him, grant this child a long life! ' 

"In this manner of bringing up children the parents, as I have already said, are 
seconded by the whole community. If a child is sent from his father's dwelling to 
carry a dish of victuals to an aged j^erson, all in the house will join in calling him a 
good child. They will ask whose child he is, and on being told will exclaim: ' What! 
has the Tortoise, or the Little Bear (as the father's name may be) got such a good 
child?' If a child is seen passing through the streets leading an old, decrepid person, 
the villagers will, in his hearing and to encourage all the other children who may be 
jjresent to take example from him, call on one another to look on and see what a 
good child that must be. And so, in most instances, this method is resorted to for 
the purpose of instructing children to things that are good, proper, or honorable in 
themselves; while, on the other hand, when a child has committed a bad. act, the 
parent will say to him: 'O! how grieved I am that my child has done this bad act! 
I hope he will never do so again.' This is generally effectual, particularly if said in 
the presence of others. The whole of the Indian plan of education tends to elevate 
rather than depress the mind, and by that means to make determined hunters and 
fearless warriors." 

Note 6. — The position of Indian women is spoken of as follows in Brinton's 
"American Race:" 

"The position of women in the social scheme of the American tribes has often 
been portrayed in darker color than the truth admits. As in one sense a chattel, she 
had few rights against tier husband; but some she had, and as they were those of 
her gens, these he was forced to respect. Where maternal descent prevailed, it was 
she who owned the property of the pair and could control it as she listed. It passed 
at her death to her blood relatives, and not to his. Her children looked upon her as 
their parent, but esteemed their father as no relation whatever. 

"The women thus made good for themselves the power of property and thus could 
not but compel respect. Their lives were rated at equal or greater value than a 
man's; instances are frequent where their voice was important in the councils of the 
tribe, nor was it verj' rare to see them attaining the dignity of head chief. That 
their life was toilsome is true, but the dangers were less, and its fatigues scarce 
greater than that of their husbands. Nor was it more onerous than that of the 
peasant women of Europe to-day." 

Note 7. — This statement is found as stated in the text of the work of Benjamin 
Ferris, referred to before. I verified it by examining the work of DeVries, entitled 
"Vovages from Holland to America," translated from the Dutch bv Henrv C. 
Murphey, New York, 1853. 

Note 8. — The colonies, when first planted in Virginia, New York, and New Eng- 
land, were prepared for war, and the images of their history are mournfully stained 
with blood. No language can adequately describe the suffering, both of the colonists 
and the natives, that followed this anti-Christian course. AVilliam Penn and his 
colony came to Pennsylvania unarmed and defenseless, wholly unprepared for war. 
And he and his people lived in harmony and peace with the natives as long as the 
government remained in their hands, which was about seventy years. (Ferri^'s Dela- 
ware Settlements, note p. 37. ) 

Note 9. — This Weekweley is the same referred to in the Lancaster Treaty in May, 
1757, whose death is assigned by the deputies of the Five Nations as one of the 
causes of the present difference between the Delawares and English. 

Note 10 — ]NIr. Logan was the secretary and the proprietaries' principal agent or 
commissioner for land affairs during nearly forty years. 

Note 11. — The value of these goods was al)Out £10, or one year's qnitrent of 20,000 
acres of land at the old rent, or 5,000 acres at tlie new. 

Note 12. — When (Jol. John Armstrong surrounded the Cattanyan town, on the 
Allegheny River, Captain Jacobs, a Delaware chief, with some warriors, took possession 
of a house, defended themselves for some time, and killed a number of our men. As 
Jacobs could speak English, our people called on him to surrender. He said that he 
and his men were warriors, and they would all fight while life remained. He was 
again told that they should be well used if they would only surrender; and if not, 
the house should l)e burned down over their heads. Jacobs replied, he could eat lire; 
and when the house was in a llaini', he, and they that were with him, came out in a 
lighting position, and were all killed. As they are a sharp, active kind of jteople, and 
war is their principal study, in this they have arrived at considerable perfection. We 
may learn of the Indians what is useful and laudable, and at the same time lay aside 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 181 

their Ijarbaron^ profcedings. It is imn-h to be lamented that some of our frontier 
riflemen are too prone to imitate them in their inhumanity. During the British war 
a considerable number of men from below Fort I'itt crossed the Ohio and marched 
into a town of friendly Indians, c-hiefly Delawares, who professed the ^loravian 
religion. As the Indians apprehended no danger, they neither lifte<l arms nor fled. 
After these riflemen were some time in the town, and the Indians altogether in their 
power, in cool blood they massat-red the whole town, without distinction of age or 
sex. This was an act of barbarity beyond anything I ever knew to be committed by 
the savages themselves. 

Note 13. — From Hildreth's Pioneer History we learn that in June, 177H, William 
Wilson was sent by ^Ir. George ■Morgan, Agent f(jr Indian Affairs in the 3Iiddle 
Department, to the Shawnees to prevent their going to Detroit to a treaty until he 
arrived there and spoke to them. 

Mr. Wilson reported, among other things, that Captain White Eyes, at his request, 
readily consented to accom])any him to a Wyandotte village opposite Detroit, where 
he met the chiefs and invited them 'to a treaty to be held at Pittsburg the 2d of 
September. 

Captain White Eyes then sjioke to them. He assured them that the Big Knife 
desired nothing more than to live in peace with all the Indians. His speech had an 
excellent effect, and after full deliberation they assured 3Ir. Wilson they would use 
all their influence with the other tribes to preserve i)eace. 

The Indians arranged a meeting for Mr. Wilson with the governor of Detmit. Mr. 
Wilson explained the object of his visit to the governor and delivered his message in 
writing. 

The governor then spoke to the Indians as follows: 

"Children, I am your father and you are my children. I have always your good 
at heart. I am sent here to represent the Great King over the waters and to take 
care of you. Those people from whom you have received that mes.«age are enemies 
and traitors to my King; and before I would take one of them by the hand I would 
suffer my right hand to be cut off. When the Great King is pleased to make peace 
with his rebellious children in this big island, I will then give my assistance in 
making peace between them and the Indians, and not before." 

With that, he tore the sjieech and cut the belt to pieces which had been delivered 
to him, and contemptuously strewed it about the council house. 

The governor told White Eyes he knew his character well, and so did all the 
nations present. He ordered him to leave Detroit before the sun set, as he regarded 
his head. 

White Eyes made no reply at that time, but after we had left the place he said, 
"The governor is a fool." He did not know what he scolded him for; that he had 
never done him any injury nor any other white man, since he had made peace with 
them; nor ever would unless they injured him; that if he had a mind to join the 
Buckskins, he would soon make him tremble for his head, and if he joined either 
side, it would be the Buckskins. The governor, seeing White Eyes afterwards, he 
having unavoidably delayed his departure, threatened to put him in irons and send 
him to Niagara if he did not leave Detroit immediately. 

Captain White Eyes was not only wise in council, brave in battle, influential with 
his own nation, but respected for his sterling qualities by all who had come in con- 
tact with him, and it is quite possible that the rudeness of manner and offensiveness 
of speech of the haughty English governor may have decided him to cast his fortunes 
with the colonies in the ensuing war. 

It was only some two years l)efore (1774) that White Eyes had particii)ated, with 
the great war chief, Cornstalk, in the battle of Point Pleasant, on tlie frontier of Vir- 
ginia, in which the whites lost some 40 to 75 killed and 140 wounded, the Indians' 
loss never having Ijeen disclosed. 

NoTK 14. — "Another Delaware chief, who lived at the same time with White 
Eyes, was Captain Pipe, who belonged to the Wolf tribe. He secretly favored the 
British on the breaking out of the Revolution, but his plans for inducing his nation 
to take up arms against the Americans were for some time defeated by the vigilance 
of White Eyes; but the Delawares finally became divided, most of them, under Cap- 
tain Pipe, taking part with the P>ritish. From a speech which Captain Pipe made 
to the British commander at Detroit, it is believed that he regretted the cour.«e that 
he had taken, perceiving that the Indians, in taking part in the (|uarrels of their white 
neighbors, had'nothing to gain and much to lose. He remarked that the cause for 
which he was fighting was not the cause of the Indians — tliat after he had taken ui> 
the hatchet he did not do with it all that he might have done, for liis iieart failed 
him — he had distinguished between the innocent and the guilty — he had spareil 
some, and hoped the British would not destroy what he hail saved." (From Amer- 
ican History, by Marcus Willson.) 



182 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Note 15. — "It had early been the settled pohcy of Congress, and which was con- 
tinued through this unnatural contest between the mother country and the colonists, 
to persuade the Indians to remain neutral and not take up the hatchet on either side. 
It was a war in which they had no concern, and they were desired to keep quiet. 
The British Government, however, pursued a very different course, and urged them, 
on all occasions, to side with them and assist in subduing their rebellious children. 
For this purpose they supijlied them with arms and ammunition and paid them a 
bounty on scalps, one of the most cruel and inhuman kinds of traffic ever entered 
into by a civilized people. 

"The main object of all the treaties with the Indians by the United States, during 
the war, was to keep them quiet, and persuade them not to molest the border 
inhabitants. For this purpose they received many presents at the close of those 
treaties, of clothing, blankets, etc., but little or no ammunition or arms. 

"Tlie British, on the other hand, supplied them with all these articles, in fourfold 
quantities, for the purpose of attaching them to their interests, while the Congress, 
from their poverty and their absolute inabilitj' to furnish them with foreign goods in 
large amounts, rather sunk in the estimation of the Indians. They had the shrewd- 
ness to perceive the poverty of the United States when compared with the wealth 
and grandeur of their old father, the King of Great Britain, and during the whole 
contest acted either openly or covertly on that side. A large portion of the Delaware 
Indians, in addition to all those who had been converted to Christianity by the 
agency of the Moravian missionaries, continued to be steadfast in their friendship 
to the Americans, and on all occasions these Christian Indians sent timely notice, if 
in their power, of the marching of war parties to attack the border inhabitants of 
Pennsylvania and Virginia. 

"These friendly acts were, no doubt, promoted by the kind offices of the mission- 
aries Zeisberger and Heckewelder, whose names will occasionally appear in the 
course of these extracts. Their friendshij^ for the United States drew upon them the 
ill-will of all the heathen tribes, which finally led to open violence, and the Christian 
Indians were forciblj' removed to Sandusky, where they suffered greatly from starva- 
tion. They also fell under the displeasure of the frontier inhabitants of western 
Pennsylvania and Virginia, viho accused them of harboring tlie war parties of the 
hostile Indians when they returned from their murderous inroads into the settle- 
ments, and secreting for them their stolen goods. Thus placed between two tires, 
they finally fell a sacrifice to an exasperated party of whites, for whom they had 
ever professed a sincere friendshiji, and were destroyed at the massacre of Gnaden- 
hutten by the hands of those they had never injured." (From Hildreth's Pioneer 
History. ) 

Note 16. — The following is from Loudon's Indian Narratives: 

" I have often heard the British officers call the Indians the undisciplined sav- 
ages, which is a capital mistake, as they have all the essentials of disci])line. They 
are under good command and punctual in obeying orders; they can act in concert, 
and when their officers lay a plan and give orders, they will cheerfully unite in put- 
ting all their directions into iumiediate execution; and by each man observing the 
motion or movement of his right-hand companion, they can communicate the motion 
from right to left, and march abreast in concert, and in scattered order, though the 
line may be more than a mile long, and continue, if occasion requires, for a consid- 
erable distance without disorder or confusion. They can perform various necessary 
maneuvers, either slowly or as fast as they can run; they can form a circle or semi- 
circle. The circle they make use of in order to surround their enemy, and the semi- 
circle if the enemy has a river on one side of him. Thej' can also form a large hol- 
low square, face out and take trees; this they do if their enemies are about surround- 
ing them, to prevent being shot from either side of the tree. When they go into 
battle they are not loaded or encumbered Avith many clothes, as they commonly 
fight naked, save only a breech clout, leggings, and mot-casins. There is no such 
thing as corporal yMuiishment used in order to Ijring them under such good disci- 
pline; degrading is the only chastisement, and they are so unanimous in this that it 
effectually answers the i)urpose. Their otiicers plan, order, and conduct matters 
until they are l)rouglit into action, and then each man is to fight as though he was 
to gain tlie battle himself, (general orders are commonly given in time of Ijattle, 
either to advance or retreat, and is done l)y a shout or yell, which is well understood, 
and then they retreat or advance in concert. The.v are generally well eijuipjied and 
exceedingly expert and active in the use of arms. Could it be supposed that undisci- 
plined troops could defeat Generals ]^>iaddock. Grant, etc.? It may be said by some 
that the French were also engaged in tliis war; true, they were; yet I know it was 
the Indians that laid the plan, and wilh small assistance put it into execution. The 
Indians had no aid from the French or any other power when they besieged Fort 
Pitt in the year 1768, and cut off tlie communication for a considerable time between 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 183 

that post and Fort Loudon, and would have defeated General Bouquet's army (who 
Avere on the way to raise the siejie), had it not been fcjr the asssis^tance of the Vir- 
ginia volunteers. They hail no iii'itish troops with them when they defeated Colonel 
Crawford, nearthe Sandusky, in the time of the American war with Great Britain, 
or when they defeated Colonel houghrie, on the Ohio, near the ^liami, on his way 
to meet General Clarke. This was also in the time of the British war. It was the 
Indians alone that defeated Colonel Todd, in Kentucky, near tlie P>lue Licks, in the 
year 1782, and Colonel Harmar, betwixt the Ohio and Lake Erie, in tlie year 1790, 
and General St. Clair in the year 1 791 ; and it is said that there were more of our men 
killed at this defeat than there were in any one battle durinj; our contest with Great 
Britain. They had no aid when they fought even the Mrginia riflemen almost a 
■whole day at the Great Kanawha in tlie year 1774, and when they found they could 
not prevail against the Virginians, they made a most artful retreat. Notwithstand- 
ing they had the Ohio to cross, some continued tiring whilst others were crossing 
the river. In this manner they proceeded until they all got over before the Virgin- 
ians knew that they had retreated, and in this retreat they carried off all their 
wounded. In mostof the foregoing defeats they fought with an inferior number, 
though in this I believe it was not the case. 

"Nothing can be more unjustly represented than the different accounts we have 
had of their number from time to time, both by their own computations and that of 
the British. While I was among them I saw the account of the number that they 
in those parts gave to the French, and kept it by me. WheTi they, in their own 
council house, were taking an account of their number with a piece of bark newly 
stripped and a small stick, which answered the end of a slate and pencil, I took an 
account of the different nations and tribes, which I added together, and found there 
were not half the number which they had given to the French; and though they 
were then their allies and lived among them, it was not easy finding out the decep- 
tion, as they were a wandering set and some of them almost always in the woods 
hunting. I asked one of the chiefs what was their reason for making such different 
returns. He said it was for political reasons, in order to obtain greater presents from 
the French by telling them they could not divide such and such quantities of goods 
among so many. 

"In the year of General Bouquet's last campaign, 1764, I saw the official return 
made by tlie British officers of the number of Indians that w^ere in arms against us 
that year, which amounted to thirty thousand. As I was then a lieutenant in the 
British service, I told them I was of opinion that there were not above one thousand 
in arms against us, as they were divided by Br(«idstreet's army being then at Lake 
P>ie. The British officers hooted at me and said they could not make England sen- 
sible of the difficulties they labored under in fighting "them, as England expected that 
their troops could tight the undisciplined savages in America five to one, as they did 
the East Indians, and therefore my report would not answer their purjiose, as they 
could not give an honoral)le account of the war l)ut by augmenting their numl)er. 
I am of opinion that from Braddock's war until the i)resent time there never were 
more than three thousand Indians at any time in arms against us west of Fort Pitt, 
and frequently not half that number. According to the Indians' own accounts, dur- 
ing the whole of Braddock's war, or from 1755 till 1758, they killed or took fifty of 
our people for one that they lost. In the war that commenced in the year 1703 they 
killed comparatively few of our people and lost more of theirs, as the frontiers (esi)e- 
cially the Virginians) had learned something of their method of war, yet they in this 
war, according to their own accounts (which I l)elieve to be true), killed or took ten 
of our people for one they lost. 

"Let us now take a view of the blood and treasure that was si)ent in opjiosing, 
comparatively, a few Indian -warriors, with only some assistance from the French, 
the first four years of the war. Additional to the amazing destruction and slaughter 
that the frontiers sustained, from James River to Susquehanna, and about 80 miles 
broad, the following campaigns were also carried on against the Indians: (leneral 
Braddock's, in the year 1755; Colonel Armstrong's against tlie Cattanyaii town, on 
the Allegheny, 1757; Cieneral Forbes's, in 1758; (u'lieral Stanwick's, in 1759; Gen- 
eral 3Ionkton"'s, in 1760; Colonel Bouquet's, in ]7(il and 17().S, when lie fought the 
liattle of Brushy Run, and lost about 100 men; but, liy the assistance of Virginia 
volunteers, drove the Indians; Colonel Armstrong's, up the west branch of Sus(|ue- 
hanna, in 1768; Genera! I'>roa(lstreet's, up Lake Erie, in 1764; General BiuKiuet's 
against the Indians at Muskingum, in 1764; Lord Dunmore's, in 1774; (general 
jNlcIntosh's, in 1778; Colonel Crawford's, shortly after his; (leneral Clarke's, in 
1778-1780; Colonel Bowman's, in 1779; (Teneral Clarke's, in 1782; against the 
Wabash, in 1786; General Logan's, against the Sliawnecs, in 178(5; (ieneral Wilkin- 
son's, in ; Colonel Ilarmar's, in 1790, and (ii'iicral St. Clair's, in 1791, which, in 

all, are twenty-two campaigns, besides smaller expeditions — such as the French Creek 



184 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

expedition, Colonels Edward's, Longhrie's, etc. All these were exclusive of the 
number of men that were internally employed as scouting parties, and in erecting 
forts, guarding stations, etc. When we take the foregoing occurrences into consider- 
ation, may we not reasonably conclude that they are the best disciplined troops in 
the known world? Is it not the best discipline that has the greatest tendency to 
annoy the enemy and save their own men? I apprehend that the Indian discipline 
is as well calculated to answer the purpose in the woods of America as the British 
discipline in Flanders; and British discipline in the woods is the way to have men 
slaughtered with scarcely any chance of defending themselves. 

"Let us take a view of the benefits we have received by what little we have learned 
of their art of war, which cost us dear, and the loss we have sustained for want of it, 
and then see if it will not be well worth our while to retain what we have, and also 
to endeavor to improve in this necessary branch of business. Though we have made 
considerable proficiency in this line, and in some respects outdo them, viz, as marks- 
men, and in cutting our rifles, an<l keeping them in good order, yet I apprehend 
we are far behind in their maneuvers, or in being able to surprise or to prevent a 
surprise. May we not conclude that the progress we had made in their art of war 
contributed considerably toward our success, in various respects, when contending 
with Great Britain for liberty? Had the British King attempted to enslave us loefore 
Braddock's war, in all probability he might readily have done it, because except the 
New Englanders, who had formerly been engaged in war with the Indians, we were 
unacquainted with any kind of war; but after lighting such a subtle and barbarous 
enemy as the Indians, we were not terrified at the approach of British redcoats. 
Was not Burgoyne's defeat accom])lished, in some measure, by the Indian mode of 
fighting? And did not General ^Morgan's riflemen, and many others, fight with 
greater success in consequence of what they had learned of their art of war? Ken- 
tucky would not have been settled at the time it was had the Virginians been 
altogether ignorant of this method of war. 

"In Braddock's war, the frontiers were laid waste for above three hundred miles 
long, and generally about thirty broad, excepting some that were living in forts, and 
many hundreds, or perhaps thousands, killed or made captives, and horses and all 
kinds of property carried off; but in the next Indian war, though we had the same 
Indians to cope with, the frontiers almost all stood their ground, because the.y were by 
this time, in some measure, acquainted with their maneuvers; and the want of this 
in the first war was the cause of the loss of many hundreds of our citizens and much 
treasure. 

"Though large volumes have been written on morality, yet it may be all summed 
up in saying, do as j'ou would wish to be done by, so the Indians sum up the art of 
war in the following manner: 

"The business of the private warriors is to be under command, or punctually to 
obey orders; to learn to march abreast in scattered order, so as to be in readiness to 
surround the enemy, or to prevent being surrounded; to be good marksmen, and 
active in the use of arms; to practice running; to learn to endure hunger or hard- 
ships with ])atience and fortitude; to tell the truth at all times to their officers, but 
more especially when sent out to spy the enemy. 

^'Concerning officers. — They say that it would be absurd to appoint a man an officer 
whose skill and courage had never been tried; that all officers should l)e advanced 
only according to merit; that no one man should have the absolute command of an 
army; that a council of officers are to determine when and how an attack is to be 
made; that it is the business of the officers to lay plans to take every advantage of 
the enemy, to ambush and surprise them, and to jirevent being ambushed and sur- 
prised themselves; it is the duty of officers to prepare and deliver speeches to the 
men in order to animate and encourage them, and on the march to jnvvent the men, 
at any time, from getting into a huddle, l)ecause if the enemy should surround them 
in this position, they would be exposed to the enemy's fire. It is likewise their 
business at all times to endeavor to annoy their enemy and save their own men, and 
therefore ought never to bring on an attack without considerable advantage, or with- 
out what apj)eared to them the sure pros])ect of victory, and that with the loss of 
few men; and if at any time they should be mistaken in this, and are like to lose 
many 'men by gaining the victory, it is their duty to retreat and wait for a better 
opportunity of defeating their enemy without the danger of losing so many men. 
Their conduct proves that they act upo7i these ])riiiciples; tlierefore it is that from 
Braddock's war to the present time they have seldom ever made an unsuccessful attack. 
The battle at the mouth of the Great Kanawha is the greatest instance of this; and 
even then, though the Indians killed al)out 8 for 1 they lost, yet they retreated. 
The loss of the Virginians in this action was 70 killed, and "the same uumlier 
wounded. The Indians lost 20 killed on the field, and 8, who died afterwards of 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 185 

their wounds. This was the greatest loss of men tliat I ever knew the Indians to 
sustain in any one l)attle. They will cftmmoidy retreat if their men are falling fast; 
they will not stand cutting like the Highlanders or other British trooi)S, hut this 
proceeds from a compliance with their rules of war rather than cowarilice. If they 
are surrounded they will ilght while there is a man of them alive rather than 
surrender. * * * 

"Why have we not made greater proficiency in the Indian art of war? Is it 
because we are too proud to imitate thein, even though it should he a means of pre- 
serving the lives of many of our citizens? No! We are not above borrowing lan- 
guage from them, su(;h as hominy, pone, tomahawk, etc., which is of little or no 
use to us. I apprehend that the i-easons why we have not improved more in this 
respect are as follows: No important ac(|uisition is to be obtained but by attention 
and diligence; and as it is easier to learn to move and act in concert, in close order, 
in the open plain, than to act in concert in scattered order in the woods, so it is 
easier to learn our discipline than the Indian manouvers. They train up their boys 
in the art of war from the time they are 12 or 14 years of age; whereas tlie principal 
chance our peoj^le had of learning was by observing their mano'uvers when in 
action against us. I have been long astonished that no one has written upon this 
important subject, as their art of war would not only be of use to us in case of 
another rupture with them, but were only part of our men taught this art, accom- 
panied with our continental discipline, I. think no European power, after trial, 
would venture to show its head in the American woods. 

" If what I have wrote should meet the approbation of my countrymen, perhaps I 
maj' publish more upon this sul)ject in a future edition." 

Note 17. — The Seminole war lasted seven j'ears. The whole available force of 
the Regular Army was engaged in the combat. Yet General Scott, then commanding 
(April 30, 1836), wrote: I am more than ever persuaded that the whole force of the 
enemy, including negroes, does not exceed 1,200 fighting men. In addition to the 
whole force of the Regular Army, a portion of the Navy, and in the aggregate dur- 
ing the war more than 20,000 volunteers were brought into service. This one single 
Indian war cost upward of §40,000,000. 

Delaware, Creek, and Choctaw Indians participated as our allies in this war. Our 
losses aggregated more than 3,000 men. The losses of the Seminole are not known. 
So stated by Geo. W. ^lanypenny. 

From Sprague's History of the Florida War, page 102, we find that there served 
in the Florida war, in 1837 and 1838, 178 Delawares and Shawnee, including 4 
officers. On another page we find that, while some of the Indian allies shirked 
going to battle with the Seminole, the Delawares were ready for the fray and went 
into the fight. 

INDIAN TRE.\TIES IN COLONIAL TIMES. 

We find in "An inquirj^ into the causes of the alienation of the Delawares and 
Shawnee from the British interests and into the measures taken for recovery of 
their friendship," a book printed in London, 1759, a list of the Indian treaties and 
other records: 

Treaty between Governor Keith and the Indians at Conestogo, April, 1722. 

Governor Gordon and the Five Nations at Philadelphia, July, 1727. 

Minutes of council on Indian affairs, April 18, 1728. 

Treaty between Governor (lordon and the Conestogoes, Delawares, Shawanese, 
and Canawe.se Indians, Mav and June, 1728. 

Ditto and Five Nations, October 10, 1728. 

Ditto and ditto, :\Iay, 1729. 

Treaty between (Tovernor Gordon, in the presence of Thomas Penn, esq., and the 
Shawanese, September, 1732. 

Ditto and the Six Nations, August and September, 1732. 

President Logan and ditto, 17.3(5. 

Deed of Confirmation of the Walking Purchase, 1737, containing recitals of several 
treaties or meetings, 1 733 to 1 737. 

^Minutes of Council relating to Indian Conferences, 1741, not delivere<l to the 
Asseml)ly till 1742. 

Treaty between (iovernor Thomas and Six Nations, July, 1742. 

Treaty held at Lancaster with the Six Nations, governors of Pennsylvania, Vir- 
ginia, and Maryland, June, 1744. 

Governor Thomas and Indians, at Philadelphia, Ot-tober, 1744. 

Treaties held at Albany with Si.x Nations, government of New York, .Mas.^achu- 
setts, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, October, 1745. 

At Albany with ditto, governor of New York, September, 174(;. 



18fi MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Votes of assenil)lv of Pennsylvania, Volume III. Sundry minutes on Indian 
affairs, 1747-48. 

Treaty held at Philadelphia between Governor Hamilton and the Six Nations, 1749. 

C. Weiser's letters to the secretary, and Governor Hamilton's messages to the 
assembly before and after the said treaty, 1749. 

Secretary Peter's report to Governor Hamilton of his proceedings at Juniata, 1750. 

C. Weiser (Indian interpreter); his journal of proceedings at Albany, 1751. 

Treaty held at Carlisle between the government of Pennsylvania and the Ohio 
Indians, 1753. 

Private minutes of proceedings at Albany treaty, and deed of Indian purchase, 1754. 

C. Weiser' s journal of his conferences with Indians at Aughwick, 1754. 

Conferences between Governor Morris and Indians at Philadelphia, August, 1755. 

Indian intelligence obtained in confederance with the half king, Scarroyady, and 
others, at several times, 1754-55. 

Conferences between Governor Morris and Scarroyady, etc., March and April, 1756. 

Between some Quakers and Scarroyady, April, 1756. 

Between Governor Morris and Captain Newcastle at Jagrea, Jmae, 1756. 

Between ditto and ditto, July, 1756. 

Minutes of conferences between Governor Morris and Teedyuscung, king of the 
Delawares, July, 1756. 

Ditto between Governor Denny and ditto at Easton, November, 1756. 

Minutes of conferences between ditto and the Six Nations at Lancaster, May, 1757. 

Between ditto and Teedyuscung, and others, at Easton, August, 1757. 

Conferences and treaties between Sir William Johnson and the Six Nations, Shawa- 
nese, and others, from December, 1755, to February, 1756. London, printed. 

Sir William Johnson's treaty with the Shawaneseand Delaware Indians, July, 1756. 
Published at New York, 1757. 

Treaty with Shawanese, Nanticokes, and Mohickanders, April, 1757. Published at 
New York. 

Thirteen Indian deeds taken from the public records: 

2d October, 1685. For the lands from Duck Creek to Chester Creek. 

12th January, 1696. For the lands on both sides of Susquehannah, lately purchased 
by Thomas Dungan of the Seneca and Susquehannah Indians. 

5th July, 1697. For the land from Pennopeck Creek to Neshamenj^ 

13th Sept., 1700. For the lands on both sides of Susquehannah, so far as the 
Susquehannah Indians have a right to claim, confirming the grant formerly made by 
Col. Dungan to William Penn. 

23d April, 1701. Articles of friendship and agreement between William Penn and 
the Susquehannah, Shawonah, and North Patomack Indians. 

17th Sept., 1718. Sassoonan, king of the Delawares, and his six counsellors, to 
William Penn, their deed of confirmation of all former sales of lands from Duck 
Creek to the mountains on this side Lechay. 

11th October, 1736. Release of all the lands on Susquehannah to the southward of 
the Kittochtinny Hills from the chiefs of the Six Nations to John, Thomas, and 
Richard Penn, esquires. 

25th Octol)er, 1736. Release from some of the chiefs of the Six Nations (parties to 
the last-mentioned deed) of all their right to the lands in the province of Pennsyl- 
vania, southward of the Kittochtinn}' Hills. On this deed appears an indorsement 
made at Albany, 9th July, 1754, confirming the deed and promising to sell no lands 
within these limits to any person save Thomas and Richard Penn, esquires. 

25th August, 1737. A deed of confirmation of a purchase therein recited to have 
been formerly made of so nuich land as a man could go over in a day and half, 
beginning at Pitcock's Falls on Delaware, thence westward to Neshameny, and to the 
head of the most westerlv branch of the said creek, and thence to the end of the 
Walk, etc. 

23d July, 1748. Articles of friendship between the chiefs of the Tweghtwees and 
the government of Pennsylvania. 

22d August, 1749. Release of the chiefs of the Six Nations of lands between the 
Kittochtinny Movmtains and Maghoinoy on Susquehannah, and the said mountains 
and I^echawachsein on Delaware. 

6th July, 1754. Release from the chiefs of the Six Nations of lands on the west 
side of Sus(iueiuuinah, beginning at the Kittochtinny Hills, and thence to a creek 
northward of the Kittochtimiy Hills, called Kayuuondinhagli, tlience northwest and 
by west to the westeru bounds of Pennsylvania, thence to the INIai'vlaiid line, thence 
by said line to the south side of tlie Kittochtinny Hills, thence by the said south side 
of the said hills to the place of beginning. 

9th July, 1754. An indorsement made by some of the parties to the said deed, 
pronnsing to sell no lands within the limits ol' IVnnsylvania to any but the Penns. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 187 

A paper said to be a copy of a deed dated 28th of 6th month, U)S(5, and indorsed 
copy of the last Indian pnrchase. To give it some credit, it has been contidently 
asserted that the said indorsement is of the handwriting of WilHam Penn, but on 
its being produced at Kaston and examined, it api)eared clearly, and was confessed 
by the secretary and several others acquainted with ]\Ir. Peim's handwriting not to 
be his, nor indeed is it like it. Its chief mark of credit is that it appears to be an 
ancient paper; but there is no certificate of its being a copy, nor was it ever recorded. 
As the name of Joseph Wood is put as one of the evidences, and as a person of that 
name declared at Pensbury, 17o4, he was present at an Indian treaty in 1686, and it 
is not known there was any otlier of the name, it seems i^xtraordinary, if this Vx' a 
genuine copy, that he was not then called upon to make some jn-oof of it. 

"There is a considerable immber of Indian deeds in the hands of the secretary 
for lands purchased at several times, and particularly for the lands on the branches 
of Schuylkil alcove Tulpyhockin, purchased in 17:^2 and 1733, which it was particu- 
larly desired might l)e produc-ecl, but they will neither record nor produce them. 
There is reason to believe the said last-mentioned deed would particularly militate 
against the subsequent proceedings from 1733 to 1737." 

A LIST OF TREATIES BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Treaty of 1778 (7 Stat. L., 13): Signed by White Eyes, The Pipe, John Kill Buck. 

Treatv of 1785 (7 Stat. L., 16): Signed bv Wingenum. 

Treaty of 1789 (7 Stat. L., 28): Signed by Captain Pipe, AVingenond, Pekelan, 
Teatawav. 

Treaty of 1803 (7 Stat. L., 74): Signed by Teta Buxike, Bukongehelas, Ilocking- 
pomskenn, Kechkawhanund. 

Treaty of 1804 (7 Stat. L., 81) : Signed by Jeta Buxika, Bokongehelas, Alimee or 
Geo. White Eves, Hockingj)omskann, Tomaguee or The Beaver. 

Treaty of July, 1805 (7 Stat. L., 87): Signed by Paahmehelot, Pamoxet or Arm- 
strong, Pappellelond or Beaver Hat. 

Treaty of August, 1805 (7 Stat. L., 91): Signed by Hocking Pomaskan, Hecklaw- 
henandor Wm. Anderson, Allime or White Eyes, Tomague or Beaver. 

Treaty of 1809 (7 Stat. L., 113): Signed by Anderson, for Hockingpomskan, who 
is absent; Anderson, Petchekekapon, The Beaver, Captain Kill Buck. 

Treaty of 1814 (7 Stat. L., 118): Signed by Taiunshrah or Charles, Tiundraka or 
Jno. Bolesle, Eroneniarah or Shroneseh; Kicktohenina or Cajjtain Anderson, Lemot- 
tenuckques or James Nanticoke; Laoponnichle or Baulie, Joon (^ueake or John 
Queake, Kill Buck, Xeaclicomingd, Montgomery 3Iontawe, Cai)tain Buck; Hoocpie 
or Mole, Captain White Eves, Captain Pipe, McDaniel, Captain Snap. 

Treaty of 1815 (7 Stat. L., 131): Signed by Toctowayning or Anderson, Lamahta- 
noquez," Matahoopan, Aaheppan or The Buck, Jim Killbnck, Captain Beaver, 
McDonald. 

Treatv of 1817 (7 Stat. L., 160): Signed by Kithtuwhelaiid or Anderson, Punch- 
huck or Captain Beaver, Tahunqueecoppi or Captain Pipe, Clamatonockis, Aweal- 
lesa or Whirlwind. 

Treatv of 1818 (7 Stat. L., 188): Signed by Kithteeleland or Anderson, Lapah- 
nihe or Big Bear, James Nanticoke, Apacahund or White Eyes, Captain Killbuck, 
The Beaver, Netahopuna, Captain Tunis, Captain Ketchum, The Cat, Ben Beaver, 
The War Mallet, Captain Caghkoo, The Buck, Petchenanalas, John Quake, Quenagh- 
toothmait. Little Jack. 

Treatv of August, 1829 (7 Stat. L., 326) : Signed by Cai^tain Pipe, AVilliam Matacur, 
Captain" Wolf, Eli Pipe, Solomon Joiu>ycake, Joseph Armstrong, (ieorge Williams. 

Treatv of September, 1829 (7 Stat. L!, 327): Signe(l liy William Anderson, Captain 
Patersoii, Pooshies or The Cat, Jonny (^uick, John <iray, lieorge (Juirty, Captain 
Beaver, Xaunotetauxien, Little Jack, "Cai)tain Pijie, Big Island, Captain Suwaunock, 
white man. Signed in presence of James Comior, Delaware interpreter. 

These last six chiefs and warriors having been deimted to examine the country, 
have approved of it, and signed their names at council camj) in the fork of the Kan- 
sas and Missouri River, on the 19th October, 1S29: Nauochecaupauc, Nungailautone, 
James Grav, Sam Street, Au])aneek, Outlitcekawsliaweat. 

Treaty of 1832 (7 Stat. L., 397): Signed l)y Melishay(|nowha, Nahkomin, Tawhe- 
lalen. Captain Ketchum, Nonondaqomon. 

Treaty of Julv, 1848 (9 Stat. L., 337): Signed by Nahkoonier, Captain Ketchum, 
Captain' Suavec.Jackenduthen, Sawkocksa, Cockitowa, Sasarsittona, l\ni]tscah, Nah- 
quenon, 

Treatv of May 6. 1854 (10 Stat. L., 1048): Signed by Sarcoxy, Neconhi-cond, Kock- 
katowha, Quacornowha or James Segondyne, (iueshatowha, John Ketchum, Nesha- 



188 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

panacumin, Charles Journeycake, Pondoxy or George Bullette, KockkocktiuaH or 
James Ketchum, Ahlahachick or James Connor. 

Treaty of May 30, 1860 (12 Stat. L., 1129): Signed by John Connor, Head Chief; 
Neconhecon, Chief of Wolf band; Sarcoxie, Chief of Turtle band; Rockatowha, Chief 
of Turkey band; James Connor, delegate. 

Treaty of July 2, 1861 (12 Stat. L., 1177): Signed by John Connor, Head Chief; 
Neconhecon, Chief of Wolf band; Sarcoxie, Chief of Turtle band; James Connor, 
delegate; Charles Journeycake. 

Treaty of July 4, 1866 (14 Stat. L., 793): Signed by John Connor, Head Chief; 
Captain Sarcoxie, Assistant Chief; Charles Journeycake, Assistant Chief; James 
Ketchum, James Connor, Andrew Miller, John Sarcoxie, counselors. 

AGREEMENT WITH CHEROKEES. 

Treaty of April 8, 1867: Signed by John Connor, Principal Chief; Charles Journey- 
cake, Isaac Journeycake, John Sarcoxie, Delaware delegates. 

Note 18. — From Heckewelder's Transactions of the Historical and Literary Com- 
mittee of the American Philosophical Society we get the following : 

"The nation whom another tribe calls grandfather is certainly the head of the 
family to which they both belong. At his door burns the 'great national council 
fire,' or, in other words, at the place where he resides with his counselors, as the 
great or supreme chief of the national family, the heads of the tribes in the connec- 
tion occasionally assemble to deliberate on their common interests ; any tribe may 
have a council tire of its own, but can not dictate to the other tribes, nor compel any 
of them to take up the hatchet against an enemy, neither can they conclude a i^eace 
for the whole; this power entirely rests with the great national chief, who presides 
at the council fire of their grandfather. 

" Indian nations or tribes connected with each other are not always connected by 
blood or descended from the same original stock. Some are admitted into the con- 
nection by adoption. Such are the Tuscaroras among the Six Nations ; such are the 
Cherokees among the Lenni Lenape. Thus, in the year 1779, a deputation of four- 
teen men came from the Cherokee nation to the council fire of the Delawares, to 
condole with their grandfather on the loss of their head chief. There are tribes on 
the other hand, who have wandered far from the hal)itations of those connected 
with them by blood or relationship. It is certain that they can no longer be bene- 
fited by the general council fire. They, therefore, become a people by themselves, 
and pass with us for a separate nation if they only have a name; nevertheless (if I 
am rightly informed), they well know to what stock or nation they originally 
belonged, and if cpiestioned on that subject will give correct answers. It is there- 
fore very important to make these inquiries of any tribe or nation that a traveler 
may find himself among. The analogy of languages is the best and most unequivocal 
sign of connection between Indians tribes ; yet the absence of that indication should 
not always be relied upon. 

"It may not be improper also to mention in this place that the purity or correct- 
ness with which a language is spoken, will greatly help to discover who is the head 
of the national family. For nowhere is the language so much cultivated as in the 
vicinity of the great national council fire, where the orators have the best opportu- 
nity of displaying their talents. Thus the purest and most elegant dialect of the 
Lenape language is that of the Unami or Turtle tribe." 

LAWS OF THE DELAWARE NATION OF INDIANS. 
[Adopted July 121, A. D. IHOti.] 

The chiefs and councilors of the Delaware tribe of Indians convened at the'v 
council house, on the reservation of said tribe, adopted July 21, 1866, the following 
laws, to be amended as they think proper: 



Section 1. A national jail shall be built on the i)ublic grounds, upon which the 
council house is now situated. 

Sec. 2. Any person who shall steal any horse, mule, ass, or cattle of any kind 
shall be punished as follows: For the first offense the jiroperty of the offender shall 
be sold by the sheriff, to pay the owner of the animal stolen the price of said animal, 
and all costs he may sustain in consequence of such theft. But if the offendc'r has 
no property, or if his property be insufficient to pay for the animal stolen, so much 
of his amniity shall be retained as may be necessary to pay the owner of said animal. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 189 

as above directed, and no relative of naid offender shall l)e permitted to assist him 
in pa3dng the penalties of said theft. For the second offense the thief shall be sent 
to jail for thirty-five days, an<l shall pay all costs and damages the owner may sus- 
tain on account of said theft. For the third offense the thief shall be confined in 
jail three months, and shall pay all costs and tlaniages, as above provided. 

Sec. 3. If any person shall steal a horse beyond the limits of the reserve, and 
bring it within" the limits thereof, it shall he lawful for the owner to j)ursue and 
reclaim the same upon ]iresenting satisfactory i)roof of ownership, and, if necessary, 
receive the assistance of the officers of the Delaware Nation: Atnl it l.s fiirtJier pmridcd, 
That such officials as may from time to time be clothed with ]iower by the United 
States agent may pursue such offender either within or without the limits of the 
reserve. 

Sec. 4. "Whoever shall ride any horse without the consent of the owner thereof 
shall for the first offense pay the sum of ten dolhus foi- each day and night that he 
may kee{) the said animal, and for the second offense shall be confined in jail for the 
term of twenty-one days, besides paying a tine of ten dollars. 

Sec. 5. Whoever shall reclaim and return any such animal to the rightful owner, 
other than the wrongdoer, as in the last section mentionetl, shall receive therefor the 
sum of two and tifty-hundredths dollars. 

Sec. 6. In all cases of theft the person or persons convicted of such theft shall be 
adjudged to pay all costs and damages resulting therefrom; and in case of the tinal 
loss of any animal stolen, then the offender shall pay the price thereof, in addition to 
the costs and damages, as provided in a previous section. 

Sec. 7. Whoever shall steal any swine or sheep shall for the first offense be fined 
the sum of $15, $10 of which shall be paid to the owner of the sheep or swine 
taken and $5 to the witness of the theft; for the second offense the thief shall, in 
addition to the above penalty, l^e confined in jail for twenty-eight days, and for 
the third offense the thief shidl be confined four weeks in jail, and then ret-eive a 
trial, and bear such punishment as may be adjudged upon such trial. 

Sec. 8. Whoever shall steal a fowl of any description shall for the first offense 
pay to the owner of such animal the sum of §5; for the second offense, in addition to 
the above penalty, the thief shall be confined in jail for twenty-one days. The wit- 
ness by whom -such theft shall 1)e proven shall be entitled to receive such reasonable 
compensation as may be allowed to him, to be paid by the offender. 

Sec. 9. A lawful fence shall be eight rails high, well staked and ridered. If any 
animal shall break through or over a lawful fence, as above defined, and do any 
damage, the owner of the inclosure shall give notice thereof to the owner of such 
animal, without injury to the animal. The owner of such animal shall therefore 
take care of the same and prevent his doing damage; but should he neglect or refuse 
so to do, the animal itself shall be sold to pay for tlie damage it may have done; but 
if the premises be not inclosed by a lawful fence, as above defined, the owner of the 
inclosure shall receive no damages; but should he injure any animal getting into such 
inclosure, shall pay for any damage he may do such animal. 

Sec. 10. Every owner of stock shall have his or her brand or mark put on such 
stock, and a description of the brand or mark of every person in the tribe shall be 
recorded by the national clerk. 

Article II. 

Section 1. Whoever shall maliciously set fire to a house shall for the first offense 
pay to the owner of such house all damages which he may sustain in consequenceof 
such fire; and, in addition thereto, for the second offense shall be confined in jail for 
the term of twenty-one days. 

Sec. 2. Should human life be sacrificed in consequence of any such fire, the person 
setting fire as aforesaid shall suffer death by hanging. 

Sec. 3. It shall be unlawful for any person to set on fire any woods or prairie, 
except for the purpose of protecting property, and then only at such times as shall 
permit the person so setting the fire to extinguish the same. 

Sec. 4. Whoever shall violate the provisions of the last ])receding section shall 
for the first offense be fined the sum of $5, and i>ay the full value of all ]iroperty 
thereby destroyed; for the second offense, in addition to the i)enalty a])Ove descril)ed, 
the offender sliall be confined in jail for the term of thirty-five days, and for the 
third offense the same punishment, except that the confinement in jail shall be for 
the period of three months. 

Sec. 5. Any person living outside of the reserve cutting hay ui)on the land of 
one living on the reserve, shall pay to the owner of such land the sum of one dollai- 
per acre, or one-half of the hay so cut. 

Sec. 6. Xo person shall sell any wood on the reserve, except said wood be first 
cut and corded. 



190 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 

Article III. 

Section 1. Whoever shall find any lost article shall forthwith return the same to 
the owner, if he can be found, under the penalty imposed for stealing such article, 
for a neglect of such duty. 

Sec. 2. Whoever shall take any article of property without permission of its owner 
shall pay the price of the article so taken, and receive such punishment as the judge 
in his discretion may impose. 

Article IV. 

Section 1. Whoever shall take up any animal on the reserve as a stray shall, 
within one week, have the description of such animal recorded in the stray book 
kept l)y the council. 

Sec. 2. If the owner of said stray shall claim the same within one year from the 
day on which the description was recorded, he shall be entitled to take it, after duly 
proving his property, and paying at the rate of five dollars per month for the keep- 
ing of such animal. 

Sec. 3. The title to any stray, duly recorded, and not claimed within one year from 
the date of such record, shall rest absolutely in the person taking up and recording 
the same. 

Sec. 4. Whoever shall take up a stray, and refuse or neglect to record a description 
of the same, as provided in section 1 of this article, shall be deemed to have stolen 
such animal, if the same be found in his possession, and shall suffer the penalties 
inflicted for stealing like animals. The stray shall be taken from him, and remain 
at the disposal of the council, and a description of the same shall be recorded in the 
stray book. 

Article V. 

Section 1. If a person commit murder in the first degree, he shall, upon convic- 
tion, suffer the penalty of death; l>ut if the evidence against him be insufficient, or 
if the killing be done in self-defense, the person doing the killing shall be released. 

Sec. 2. Whoever shall, by violence, do bodily harm to the person of another shall 
be arrested, and suffer such punishment as may on trial be adjudged against him; 
and should death result from such bodily harm done to the person Of another, the 
offender shall be arrested, and suffer such punishment as may be adjudged against 
him. 

Sec. 3. Whoever shall wilfully slander an innocent party shall be punished for 
such slander at the discretion of the judge. 

Sec. 4. Whoever, being intoxicated or under the influence of liquor, shall display 
at the house of another, in a dangerous or threatening manner, any deadly weapons, 
and refuse to desist therefrom, being commanded so to do, and put up such weapons, 
either by the owner of the house or by any other person, shall for the first offense 
be fined the sum of $5, and pay all damages which may accrue; for the second offense 
shall be confined in jail twenty-one days and pay a fine of $10 and pay all damages 
which may accrue, and for the third offense shall be imprisoned in the jail for thirty- 
five days, be fined $20, and pay all damages as aforesaid. 

Sec. 5. Officers shall be appointed to appraise all damages accruing under the last 
preceding section, who shall hear all the evidence, and render judgment according 
to the law and the evidence. 

Sec. 6. Whoever shall, being under the influence of liquor, attend public worship or 
any other i^ublic meeting, shall first be commanded peaceably to depart, and if he 
refuses, it shall be the duty of the sheriff to arrest and confine such person until he 
becomes sober; and the offender shall pay a fine of $5. 

Sec. 7. It shall be the duty of the sheriff to attend all meetings for pul)lic worship. 

Sec. 8. No member of the Delaware Nation shall be held liable for any debts con- 
tracted in the purchase of intoxicating licpiors. 

Sec. 9. The United States agent and the chiefs shall have power to grant license 
to bring merchandise to the natidiial ])ayment ground for sale to so many traders as 
they may think proper for the interest of the nation. 

Sec. 10. It shall be unlawful for any one person to bring any kind of drinks, except 
coffee, on the payment ground; and any person who shall offend against this section 
shall forfeit his drinkables and his right to remain on the payment ground. 

Sec. 11. It shall be unlawful for any one person to bring within the reserve more 
than 1 pint of si)irituous li<iu<)rs at any one time. For the first offense against this 
section the offender shall forfeit his li(iuors and i)ay a line of $5; for the second 
offense he shall forfeit his liquors and pay a fine of $10, and for the third offense he 
shall forfeit his liquors and be fined the sum of $25. 



MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 191 

Sec. 12. Any person who shall find another in ])Os.session of more than 1 pint of 
liquor at one time upon the reserve may lawfully spill and destroy the same and shall 
use such force as may be necessary for such purpose. Should the owner resist and 
endeavor to commit l)odily harm upon the person engaged in spilling or destroying 
said liquor, lie shall be taken into custody by the sheriff and be punished as an 
offender against the law. 

Sec. 13. The sheriff may lawfully compel any man or any number of men, minis- 
ters of the gospel excepted, to assist in capturing any person who shall violate these 
laws. 

Sec. 14. Whoever shall offer resistance to any caj^ture or arrest for violating any 
of the provisions of these laws shall lie punished not only for the original offense for 
which he was arrested, but also for resisting an oflicer. 

Article VI. 

Section 1. All business affecting the general interest of the nation shall be trans- 
acted by the council in regular sessions. 

Sec. 2. All personal acts of chiefs, councilors, or i)rivate individuals in such mat- 
ters as affect the general interest of the nation shall be considered null and void. 

Sec. 3. Whoey^r shall violate the last preceding section liy undertaking in a pri- 
vate capacity and manner to transact public and national business shall be impris- 
oned in the national jail for a period not less than six months nor more than one 
year, and shall forfeit his place of office or position in the nation, which place or 
position shall be tilled by the appointment of other suitaljle persons. 

Sec. i. Councilors shall be appointed who shall take an oath faithfully to perform 
their duties to the nation, and for neglect of such duties others shall be appointed to 
till their places. 

Sec. 5. Should a councilor go on a journey, so that it is impossible for him to 
attend the meetings of tlie council regularly, he may appoint a substitute who shall 
act for him in his absence. 

Sec. 6. Certain days shall be set apart for council and court days. 

Sec. 7. The chiefs and councilors shall appoint three sheriffs, at a salary of §150 
per annum each; one clerk, at §100 per annum; and one jailor, at a salary of §100 
per annum, whose salary shall be due and payable half-yearly; and in case either of 
the above officers shall neglect or refuse to perform any of the duties of his office, he 
shall forfeit his salary, and his office shall be declared vacant and another shall be 
appointed to fill the office. 

Sec. 8. The chiefs and councilors shall semiannually, in April and October, make 
an appropriation for national expenses, which appropriation shall be taken from the 
trust fund, or any other due the Delawares, and paid to the treasury. 

Sec. 9. There shall be a treasurer appointed annually, on the 1st day of April, 
whose duty it shall be to receive and disburse all moneys to be used for national pur- 
poses; but the treasurer shall pay out money only on order of chiefs and councilors, 
and for his services shall be paid 5 per cent on the amount disbursed. 

Article VII. 

Section 1. It shall be lawful for any person, before his or her death, to make a 
will and thereby dispose of his or her property as he or she may desire. 

Sec. 2. If a man dies leaving no will to show the disposal of his property and 
leaves a widow and children, one-fourth of his property shall be set aside for the 
payment of his debts. Should the property so set aside lie insufficient to pay all his 
debts in full it shall be divided among his creditors pro rata, which pro rata jtayment 
shall be received by his creditors in full satisfaction of all claims and demands 
whatever. 

Sec. 3. If the property so set apart for the payment of debts is more than sufficient 
to pay all debts the remainder shall be equally divided among the children. 

Sec. 4. The widow shall be entitled to one-third of the property not set aside for 
the payment of debts. 

Sec. .5. If a man dies leaving no widow or children, his debts shall first be paid 
out of the proceeds of his personal i)roperty, and the remainder, if any, with the real 
estate, shall be given to the nearest relative. 

Sec. 6. Whoever shall take or receive any portion of the property belonging to the 
widow and orphans shall be punished as if he had stolen the projierty. 

Sec. 7. The council shall ai)point guardians for orphan children when they deem it 
expedient so to do. 



192 MEMORIAL OF THE DELAWARE INDIANS. 



t^ 



^ 



Article VIII. 



Section 1. If a white man marry a member of the nation and accumulate property 
by such marriage, said property shall belong to his wife and children; nor shall he be 
allowed to remove any portion of such property beyond the limits of the reserve. 

Sec. 2. Should such white man lose his wife, all the property shall belong to the 
children, and no subseipient wife shall claim any portion of such property. 

Sec. 3. Should such white man die in the nation leaving no children, all his 
property shall belong to his wife, after paying his debts. 

Sec. 4. Should such white man lose his wife and have no children, one-half of the 
personal property shall belong to him, and the other half shall belong to his wife's 
nearest relatives. 

Sec. 5. Should such white man be expelled from the reserve and the wife choose 
to follow her husband, she shall forfeit all her right and interest in the reserve. 

Article IX. 

• , _ 

Section X,. •^■o member of the nation shall lease any grounds to persons not mem- 
bers of the nation. 

Sec. 2. Should a white man seek emplety^nent/jfi any member of the nation, he 
shall first give his name to the United States agent and furnish Itin^vith a certificate 
of good moral character, and also a statement of the time for which he is ete^jloyed 
and the name of his employer. 

Sec. 3. The employer shall pay all hired help according to agreement. 

Sec. 4. Any jjerson or persons violating any of the provisions of these laws on the 
reserve shall be punished as therein provided. 

Sec. 5. All white men on the reserve disregarding these laws shall also be expelled 
from the reserve. 

Article X. 

Section 1. Whoever shall forcibly compel any woman to commit adultery, or who 
shall commit a rape upon a woman, shall, for the first offense, be fined the sum of 
$50 and be imprisoned in jail for thirty-five days; for the second offense he shall be 
fined $100 and be confined three months in the national jail, and for the third offense 
he shall be punished as the court shall see proper. 

o 



104 



^^^4^. -: 












> 



I ^^ A^ **f^©^^ >. c:^?^ •^Va^'. '^^ A^ ♦'fS^'. '^^'^ c'^'^ .: 



























V ..' 








.- ^"-n^. V 



V ^^>''\<^^ "q./'T^-'.o*^ 



.^ **.Sfe.'. X/ ,^^, ^^^^,^ .N- 





















3* , 



'y^:',''^ n^ ♦ 



^^r-K 







•&• e o » a 






